Moscow Subway To Use Special Devices To Read Data On Passengers' Phones

dryriver writes "'The head of police for Moscow's subway system has said stations will soon be equipped with devices that can read the data on the mobile telephones of passengers. In the July 29 edition of Izvestia, Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov said the device would be used to help locate stolen mobile phones. Mokhov said the devices have a range of about 5 meters and can read the SIM card. If the card is on the list of stolen phones, the system automatically sends information to the police. The time and place of the alert can be matched to closed-circuit TV in stations. Izvestia reported that 'according to experts, the devices can be used more widely to follow all passengers without exception.' Mokhov said it was illegal to track a person without permission from the authorities, but that there was no law against tracking the property of a company, such as a SIM card.' What is this all about? Is it really about detecting stolen phones/SIM cards, or is that a convenient 'cover story' for eavesdropping on people's private smartphone data while they wait to ride the subway? Also — if this scheme goes ahead, how long will it be before the U.S., Europe and other territories employ devices that do this, too?"

Re:Can someone explain the technology..

[DigitAl56K]

I may be naive, but I was under the impression that SIM cards required electrical contact to interface with. Is there some special trick the Russian's are using, or is there a radio device in Russian SIM cards, or all SIM cards? Or are they co-opting the phone somehow?

I see there is more information in the second article than the first. They are using fake towers to collect identifying information when the phone connects, which is quite different.

There's a grand total of two things to make...

[Anonymous Coward]

A stolen phone resalable.

Change the IMEI for phones that need it (There was an article here a while back with a number of chinese phones having the *SAME* IMEI and thus cutting... what tens to hundreds of thousands off when the IMEI from one of them was blocked? Since the phone companies worked by SIM ID not IMEI the phones had all worked fine on the network until the IMEI blacklist happened.)

And secondly: Either wiping and reprinting, or simply reprinting the device ID sticker inside the battery case.

While the former may be difficult I'm sure the latter would be well within the abilities of most criminals involved in fencing of stolen cellphones.

Given the shoddy quality of some of the PRODUCTION labels, you might not even be able to tell the difference.

Re:SIM tracking?

[Anonymous Coward]

The IMEI *can* be changed with special software. In several countries, there are shops that offer the "service" of changing the IMEI number of an stolen phone for a new random one, in order to avoid the blocking.

Article is overblown

[Cyberax]

Moscow Subway doesn't plan to "read data on passangers' phones". They are simply setting up femtocells to report if a phone with a flagged number comes close. So if someone steals a phone from you on the subway (happens all the time :( ) you simply need to inform station personnel and police would have a chance to catch a thief.

Technically, it can be used for tracking. But why bother? Cell phone companies must provide tracking records to law enforcement on request anyway.