Site Totals

61162 Questions Answered 267 Categories

Verizon tracking people who do the unmentionable?

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/04/04/are-the-days-of-rooting-android-phones-coming-to-an-end/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DroidLife+%28droid+life%29

EDIT: URL of the post that started it all:

http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/android-news-rumors/6888-some-food-thought-bootloaders-rooting-manufacturers-carriers.html

"Verizon and another major carrier seem to be tracking r****d phones by seeing who has not accepted updates. They also seem to be doing this as of right now, meaning you could be on their list if you have a r****d device."

This is causing a stir around the 'net. Granted the US. Supreme Court has ruled that r**ting a phone isn't illegal but the carriers can do what they want to to make it very hard to do and they are also free to summarily punish those who choose to do so...it just isn't illegal to do it...

{edited to comply with Terms of Service}

Be Careful. While our members are generally helpful and eager to provide useful information, be advised that Verizon Wireless has no obligation to monitor these linked sites, and is not responsible for them. Accessing any such linked sites is done entirely at the user's own risk.

Thank you

Comments

PJNC284

It's nothing more than he said/she said at this point that gets people in a frenzy. P3 has been credible in the past but if this were the case, it would most likely be reported by more than one source. I can see them monitoring for abuse of service from high data users but to bother the normal r**ted users would be suicide. Angry nerds would be a lot more of a pain to them than people angry over lack of updates.

Smokie11

They track who has a rooted phone by those that refuse an update? That is hilarious, what update??? 2.2??? That is so funny.

On a more serious note, it is my opinion that tethering your phone to your laptop when you pay for an unlimited data plan is an already paid for service and when Verizon wants me to pay for a second time for an already paid for service, this is called "double dipping" and they are actually attempting to steal from me.

Ok I have my flame suit on. :smileywink: Go ahead big red lovers, tell me how wrong I am. :smileyvery-happy:

gsp10

I Completely agree with you my cousin has his g2 tethered and tmobile doesn't charge extra and they have wayyyy faster internet speeds

DonM

Smokie11 wrote:
They track who has a rooted phone by those that refuse an update? That is hilarious, what update??? 2.2??? That is so funny.

Go to the second URL and read the post. P3droid said that the actual method is more complex than mentioned so I suspect there is some interim method of interrogating the phones that isn't dependent upon the update process.

Smokie11

I believe it can be tracked, I was laughing about the irony of tracking those that refuse an update, an update is exactly what we want and don't get. Lack of updates probably is the main reason most people that own a Fascinate root. There are always techies that simply root because the phone is their property, no different than owning a computer and they want full access to their OS. There are people that just don't like being told what they can and cannot do with their property.

DonM

Smokie11 wrote:
I believe it can be tracked, I was laughing about the irony of tracking those that refuse an update, an update is exactly what we want and don't get. Lack of updates probably is the main reason most people that own a Fascinate root. There are always techies that simply root because the phone is their property, no different than owning a computer and they want full access to their OS. There are people that just don't like being told what they can and cannot do with their property.

I agree, unfortunately I can see both sides of the issue. I do think that after I buy a product I should be able to do as I please with it but I also understand Verizon's desire to control exactly what connects with their network.

On an somewhat unrelated note; this entire Froyo debacle has taught me to do some serious research into which maunufacturer/carrier does update their products before I buy.

DonM

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/ghsu9/in_light_of_verizons_supposed_root_tracking_i_am/

There have been a lot of people declaring this to be bogus. The link is to a reddit conversation about it. It's rather long but very interesting. The gist is: tracking cellphones in this manner is technologically possible but it would be very hard to do, fraught with false positives and is unlikely to be happening now.

For whatever reason I can no longer find the post over at XDA that was discussing this topic. I have seen info that indicates P3droid and other Devs seem to have a rocky relationship. If that feeds into this or not, I don’t know.

PJNC284

meh, it's just fear mongering at it's best. He got Thunderbolt users in a Frenzy this morning by telling them to uninstall the LTE throttle hack and revert to stock. Said hack doesn't even exist. If there was anything to it, every blog on the internet would be running the story but as of right now, there is only 1 "source". My guess is that Verizon won't resort to tracking at the software level on individual phones because that would open a whole different can of worms. There more likely to go the AT&T route and just go after high data users that throw up red flags for possible tethering violations.

Soulchaser

For a Thunderbolt that is having an issue with battery life, please ensure that the device has been set to “CDMA auto (PRL)” in order to keep the phone for constantly searching for 4G/LTE service in order to check this please follow the instructions below

Dial *#*#4636#*#*

Select "Phone Information"

Change network to "CDMA auto (PRL)"

Then just back out and it works like normal.

To change it back, follow the instructions and instead of selecting "CDMA auto (PRL)" pick “CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto.”

BOOM 4G LTE fix that is legal

gixxerman

I can't tell you how many people at work have been fine $5000. or more for using their cell phones at work. If the head honchos hear that some was using their cell at work, work gets a subpena and gets your cell records then tracks the towers you were using and the time you were on line and BANG you're done. $ 5000. please or lose your job. STOP TRACKING US !!! Time to go to APPLE, Steve said " we are not tracking you"

Soulchaser wrote:
For a Thunderbolt that is having an issue with battery life, please ensure that the device has been set to “CDMA auto (PRL)” in order to keep the phone for constantly searching for 4G/LTE service in order to check this please follow the instructions below

Dial *#*#4636#*#*

Select "Phone Information"

Change network to "CDMA auto (PRL)"

Then just back out and it works like normal.

To change it back, follow the instructions and instead of selecting "CDMA auto (PRL)" pick “CDMA + LTE/EvDo auto.”

BOOM 4G LTE fix that is legal

DonM

I can't see how a firm that would take $5K from employees as punishment would still have employees to take money from.

droidsw

This thread needs Jesse Ventura's conspiracy show to get involved. Spying, subpoenas, fines. Where are the black helicopters and dead cows?

Child Item