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?"

Comments

Tin-foil...

[Anonymous Coward]

...pockets. Coming to your next pair of pants.

Re:Tin-foil...

[Anonymous Coward]

Good luck with the reception in there though.

What you need is a 100% passive system. Much like the radar in modern war planes / helicopters has a passive mode.

Or, you know, storm the government, replace the assholes, etc. The only actual solution. But that would require *actually* doing something. As opposed to just protesting or bitching on-line.

Its obvious

[Stumbles]

To say their reasoning is thinly veiled is to say Santa Claus is alive and well at the North Pole. Tracking "stolen" phones not is it about.

in soviet russia

[maliqua]

trains track you

Re:note to self.

[oodaloop]

They're for holding helium, as an alternative form of transportation to the subway. Duh.

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 . 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:SIM tracking?

[CrimsonAvenger]

The IMEI cannot be changed since it is normally written in write-once memory, and it may even be illegal to change.

Won't argue how easy/hard it might be to change the IMEI, but do you REALLY think a thief is going to be deterred from changing it because it's illegal????

Hint: stealing it in the first place was illegal 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.

Re:Who framed Comrade Rabbit?

[Mitreya]

And what happens when a thief steals a phone and plants it in the bag of an unsuspecting commuter?

Or, even more likely, a representative of the Moscow police force plants a "stolen" phone.

It may be illegal to arrest unsuspecting commuters, but a vile thief (suspect) is fair game for anything. And the magic box will catch him right away.

Re:can it be disabled ?

[icebike]

Also, why the fuck would anyone be using the sim that came with the stolen phone? If I were to steal a phone, the first thing I would do would be to toss the sim into the nearest garbage or storm drain or whatnot, and put a new one in. It's not like they're expensive or hard to get. Where I'm from I can get a sim for €10 with €10 credit. So, effectively, it's free.

Exactly.
And the headlines are also misleading. The technology can read your phone's sim number (which is broadcast to the towers anyway), but there is nothing in the article that indicates it can read ANY data stored on the phone. Nobody stores even their contacts on a sim anymore, so all they get is the sim number (IMSI), and maybe your phones IMEI.