Moscow Metro To Deploy SIM Card Snooping Devices To Retrieve Stolen Mobile Phones
For retrieving stolen mobile phones, the Russian Metro Police have come up with an interesting idea. They are planning to install devices across various subway stations in Moscow that shall be able to read the data on SIM cards and will be able to alert the authorities when it spots a mobile phone that has been listed as stolen in the police database. The authorities shall then use the time and place of the alert and use closed-circuit television footage to nab the thief. These devices will scan the mobile data of any person who comes within its five meters radius.
Even though the basic purpose of this system seems noble, the system could have potential as a data aggregation service like the PRISM project. There are privacy laws in Russia which make it illegal to track a person without permission from the concerned authorities but Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov has stated in a interview with the local "Izvestia" newspaper that since they are tracking the SIM card which is technically the property of the mobile service provider they are not breaking any rules.
So what do you think of this system and whether these kinds of systems can be implemented in a country like India where mobile phone theft is a common problem. Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Creepy: Moscow outfitting metro stations with SIM card snooping machines - PhoneArena
Mayakovskaya Station in Moscow
Even though the basic purpose of this system seems noble, the system could have potential as a data aggregation service like the PRISM project. There are privacy laws in Russia which make it illegal to track a person without permission from the concerned authorities but Moscow Metro police chief Andrei Mokhov has stated in a interview with the local "Izvestia" newspaper that since they are tracking the SIM card which is technically the property of the mobile service provider they are not breaking any rules.
So what do you think of this system and whether these kinds of systems can be implemented in a country like India where mobile phone theft is a common problem. Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Creepy: Moscow outfitting metro stations with SIM card snooping machines - PhoneArena
Replies
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Satya Swaroop DashIf you ask me, the triangulation system used currently is perfectly suitable in a country like India. But the trouble associated with this system is that once the perpetrator ditches the SIM card it becomes hard to track the mobile phone by its IMEI code. -
Jeffrey ArulrajIMEI numbers of registered mobiles will be okayish while tracking
But in Large countires the amount of mobile phones which a user register is very less And the resale of these registered mobile phones are not updated in the database leading to unwanted trouble
This is a necessary evil when it comes to implementing in India
You are reading an archived discussion.
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