Hey I'm planning on writing a short story where a character is on the run and one of the things they have is a cell phone. Since I didn't want some snob to say *pinches nose* "how come they just didn't track the cell phone to find him?", I was wondering about cellphone tracking.
So yeah how does cell phone tracking work? Can it be tracked while off? How is it tracked while on? etc. I see some shows where a call needs to be going on for a minute to trace the number, what if they already have the number? etc. I don't need the technicals about the signal and the cellphone towers and such, just want the general stuff, like how long can my character keep the cellphone on without being traced? And he doesn't have a gps chip in it.
For best answer: a long, complete, but general answer would be nice. Of course first counts a lot, but I don't just want *pinches nose again* "they can track the cellphone". Yes I know they can track the phone I want to know how long and when can they and what do they do if they do/don't have the number? etc.
I know this really doesn't belong in cell phones, but I couldn't really think of a better category for it... So yeah just deal with it
So yeah how does cell phone tracking work? Can it be tracked while off? How is it tracked while on? etc. I see some shows where a call needs to be going on for a minute to trace the number, what if they already have the number? etc. I don't need the technicals about the signal and the cellphone towers and such, just want the general stuff, like how long can my character keep the cellphone on without being traced? And he doesn't have a gps chip in it.
For best answer: a long, complete, but general answer would be nice. Of course first counts a lot, but I don't just want *pinches nose again* "they can track the cellphone". Yes I know they can track the phone I want to know how long and when can they and what do they do if they do/don't have the number? etc.
I know this really doesn't belong in cell phones, but I couldn't really think of a better category for it... So yeah just deal with it