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?"

SIM tracking?

[bikin]

Tracking the SIM is ridiculous for detecting stolen phones. A thief that is not brain dead will turn it off immediately and discard the SIM, if they don't do so already. If you really want to stop mobiles from being stolen, the simple solution is IMEI blocking at phone company level. The IMEI cannot be changed since it is normally written in write-once memory, and it may even be illegal to change. The wikipedia article is super clear in the first lines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Station_Equipment_Identity [wikipedia.org] . A phone blocked at IMEI level is useless since it cannot be used even with a different SIM, so the sale value is almost nil, only valuable for parts. Tracking IMSIs can be used for other purposes, like tracking non-stolen phones or more interesting the owners. The article is quite scant on details, so not a lot can be assumed.

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

[citizenr]

IMSI tracking is impossible, all that if floating in the air is TMSI - automagically random generated when you turn on your phone (unless they also install gsm blockers and force phones to lose connection in a chokepoint somewhere).
IMEI changing is trivial, thieves dont do it, fences/repair shops do (in countries where imsi block lists are active)

This whole article is stupid and written by clueless person interviewing another clueless person :(

Re:Tin-foil...

[Russ1642]

I have a steel business card case that I use as a wallet. The readers commonly used on door locks in office buildings have no problem reading my cards through the case.

Re:note to self.

[Dr_Barnowl]

Confirm that ; we had a manager who left his phone at his desk a lot and it would ring constantly, distubing development. We put a jaffa cake tin on his desk and banished his phone to it the first time it rang each day... he learned to carry it around with him.