Missouri to use cellphone signals to monitor traffic
By Marc Perton 
posted October 11th 2005 6:31AM
posted October 11th 2005 6:31AM
Add Missouri to the
list of states planning to undermine driver privacy in
the name of more efficiently managing their roads. The state is planning a program with a $3 million annual budget that
will track vehicles using cellphone triangulation, silently measuring the speed of vehicles via the cellphones within,
as they're handed off from tower to tower. While the state insists that the system is designed to help motorists avoid
traffic tie-ups by monitoring road conditions, privacy advocates point out that it can tie specific cellphone numbers
to specific vehicles, and can be used to track individual drivers. Of course, there's one sure way to avoid being
tracked: just shut the cellphone off when you get in the car.
Better to remove the battery:
http://www.underreported.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1076
" It can triangulate a phone's location down to a few metres and was even able to turn on Studabaker's mobile when it was switched off."
True, you can switch off your phone before stepping in your car, but that's crazy! Why should we have to suffer (by being unreachable) for the fact that they don't respect our privacy! I'm glad I don't live in Missouri.
In the Netherlands it is quite common that the traffic control organizations use this technique for measuring traffic speed (the more mobiles are proceeding very slowly, the more likely there's gonna be a traffic jam).
In some cases it just doesn't fit to put on the tin foil hat, but yes when they can measure they can also store the data.
But for the ones who are going to dig into all that data provided.... It's gonna be boring matter trying to analyze all that info into something spectacular.
How many times will they find fellons escaping, men cheating their wives (by taking a reroute to some building after work) etc.?
- Unomi -
In the UK we have cameras on most motorway bridges that recognise numberplates of random cars as they pass, called Trafficmaster. A series of them (known distances apart) can then get a very accurate average traffic speed by timing for the reappearance of the same plate. Speed = distance / time and all that. Simple. No triangulation of radio wave propagation needed.
Now I'm all for pointless applications of technology normally, but this plan just seems way over-the-top. Cellphone triangulation is rough at best, although I suppose it's enough here to decide whether traffic is "slow, slower or stopped".
Hmmm... Wonder if it'll get confused if a truck carrying hundreds of those SMS kettles drives through?! ;)
This sounds interesting. The Germans (and Dutch, too?) have had variable speed limits on their highways for years. It really keeps the traffic in check by regulating speeds.
If they can do this by monitoring cell signals, without having to put any special equipment (ie cameras, road sensors, etc.), then that's cool.
If it will cause people to turn off their cellphones out of fear of being tracked, then good, that's a few less drivers hammering away on their cellphones while driving.
-- Elias
@Elias:
Yeah, the Dutch have that too...
Is a good comment tough, that people will (should) turn their phone off while driving a vehicle.
Then they won't bust camera's (set them on fire, shoot them with rifles etc. wich has happened) but will bust antenna's wherever they see them (get in a paranoid mind for a while). I think that is a good progression against all that tech ;-)
- Unomi -
Turn your phone off when you get in the car??
How retarded is that? "Hey honey, I got me a brand new cell phone, but dont bother calling me while im driving to work... uncle sam might be trying to triangulate my whereabouts in order to sell the information to the Russians."
What the hell is the purpose of a cell phone if you cant use it while you drive??
"What the hell is the purpose of a cell phone if you cant use it while you drive??"
If you're talking on your phone will driving you're not concentrating and are a lot more likely to crash. Even if you have the full bluetooth hands free kit (a minimum) you shouldn't really take calls.
I remember when they did this on the east coast as a pilot program with analog cell phones. Of course, it didnt last long cuz things went digital
I vote to kick Missouri out of the Union
"What the hell is the purpose of a cell phone if you cant use it while you drive??"
Not being tied to a single location, but you know what, my life is worth more than your trifling chit-chat about dinner plans.
Your life is worth more than idle gossip about your next door neighbors.
Your kids lives are worth more than a call to or from the office when you're driving on a busy freeway, or complex series of city streets.
Hang up the damned phone when you're driving!!
Raise your hand if you think that the cops can't track your individual cell phone while it's on, even without triangulation.
Keep them up. Now, others who think they can't track your cellphone while it is off.
Everyone with a hand in the air is ignorant.
This is not only possible but common. The trouble is in pairing a cellular signal with a user. Its very easy to say that signals X, Y, and Z are all logged onto a specific tower, and that all were moments ago logged onto another tower, indicating that they are traveling in such-and-such direction on highway such-and-such. The trouble is in saying that phone X is being used by an individual person.
Bottom line: if the cops are tracking you specifically like this, then you are already WAY up on their radar--because it takes quiet the investigative effort to get this kind of information--and are screwed, with or without this traffic system.
Sweet! Privacy issues aside, do you guys realize the potential for improving the transportation system with a system that can track where every car goes? Currently pretty much all we can track is number of cars passing by a point, or speed of cars at a given point. But it's much more useful to know where everyone is going, from start to finish. If we know where cars start and finish their trips, we can improve the design of the roads to accomodate everyone's driving patterns. Or, better yet, we can design a totally new transportation system that would meet everyone's needs by getting them to their destination quicker.
I'm currently studying to be a transportation engineer. So I'm no expert yet, but I do spend time contemplating such ideas.
Like some people mentioned, here in Holland such a system is in production. Check this site out : http://www.fourhour.net/ and click on Mobile Traffic Services to see a video which gives a great technical insight.