The authorities can track and locate
your position anywhere, at any time. So, much for the misnomer call the Freedom
Act.Currently, non-GPS phones have to be triangulated between local Cellular
Towers, which is time consuming.
If you’re paranoid about the ability of
authorities to find you using your cell phone, you might want to sit down: The
FCC will require that cell phone service providers and Voice over the Internet
Protocol providers ensure their products are fully GPS-capable by 2018.
Devices that are not GPS-enabled must be tracked
via triangulation with local cellular towers, a time consuming process that can
only give an approximate location and can dangerously delay critical
assistance. No date was given for when non-GPS enabled devices must be
discontinued, but given FCC estimates that by 2018, 75 percent of all mobile
devices will be GPS capable, it is likely that the assumption is the sun
setting of obsolete devices will occur naturally as consumers chuck outdated
gadgets for shiny new ones.
In addition to increased safety for accident or crime victims, the
regulation will affect all mobile phones, including pre-paid phones that don’t
require users to create accounts. The Federal Communications Commission has
published a new rule that mandates all cellphones support true GPS positioning
by the year 2018. Many smartphones already have GPS chips inside of them today,
but the vast majority of feature phones still rely on cell tower triangulation
for location services.
The FCC wants all phones to support GPS positioning so that 911 emergency
responders can locate people quicker and more accurately. The cell tower
triangulation method works in those scenarios, and it aids the GPS systems in
locking in a more accurate position in less time.