How Cell Phone Tracking Works

Cell phone tracking is used to track the current position of a cell phone. An active call is not required to track the current position of the cell phone, but the cell phone must be turned on for a successful tracking.

GSM localization uses multilateration to establish the position of GSM cell phones, generally with the objective to trace the user. GSM localization is then done by triangulation to locate the user/cell phone, on the basis of the strength of the signals. Triangulation is the process of finding one’s position on a given plane when two visual landmarks are known. While routing a call to the cell phone, the cell towers analyze the signals sent from the phone and then decide which tower is best placed to carry out the communication with the phone. The cell towers monitor these signals, and the location of the cell phone can be determined by comparing the strength of these signals. Localization-Based Systems can be largely grouped into Network based, Handset based and Hybrid. Network-based models make use of the service provider's network to recognize the position of the cell phone. Handset-based identification model needs the installation of client software program on the cell phone to identify its position. Hybrid-based model uses a mixture of network-based and handset-based models for position identification.

However, new cell phones are now equipped with GPS (Global Positioning System). GPS tracking is done to determine the location of the cell phone. This technique gives accurate results. Global Positioning Tracking uses the concept of triangulation to calculate the location of the cell phone. Satellites and the cell phone are used as the landmarks for this purpose. A GPS tracking system can be used to give both real-time and historical navigation data as it uses the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network. The GNSS network incorporates a range of satellites that use microwave signals, and these signals are then analyzed to determine the location of the cell phone. A GPS device receives signals from the GPS satellites, and if it can receive strong signals from three or more satellites, then the location is calculated accurately. However, if the signals are weak, it could be difficult to accurately locate the cell phone. An important aspect of GPS tracking is that a GPS device cannot send signals; it can only receive them. So, satellites and the GPS system within the cell phone are two basic necessities for successful GPS tracking.

Locating cell phones can create delicate privacy problems, since it facilitates somebody to check a person’s position without the person's permission. Principles and security procedures are strongly suggested for services that use positioning, and the cell phone user must provide an informed, clear permission to a service provider before the service provider can calculate positioning data from the user's cell phone.