I was reading a follow up of the Kyron Horman case and now they’re trying to trace the step mother through cell phones and surveillance video. I got to thinking, how traceable would I be?
Let’s see I got on a CTA (Chicago Transit) Bus. The bus is monitored with cameras and my fare card is traceable. I went to the library. My card would indicate times I checked out book and how I logged into their compuer. Also library is monitored.
Went to health club. That is full of video surveillance. Then I walked home. I guess lots of businesses on Fullerton (A busy street in Chicago) would have outside cameras that may have caught me.
I don’t have a cell phone so I guess that saves me a lot from having my exact position known.
So just wondering how traceable were your footsteps today?
I went to the zoo. The car’s tag was scanned on the tollway, and my membership was scanned on the way in. Nothing to say I didn’t leave 5 minutes after though
I rode a bicycle to work, no trace. I then used an ID card with a security chip to open one of the side doors at work and I used it again to enter the operations room at least once.
I then spent 6 hours in an aeroplane. I used my mobile phone to get the latest forecast weather at the destination aerodrome not long after take-off, that may confirm that I am on the aeroplane depending on what kind of tracing technology is available to the authorities. We made half hourly position reports to ATC, that allows a plot of the aeroplane’s position over the course of the flight, but there is no radar coverage here and we could have lied about our position. I also made a small number of those position reports myself and so my presence on the aeroplane could be double checked by a voice recognition expert. My voice is also recorded on to the cockpit voice recorder from the last 30 minutes of flight further confirming that I was there.
After the flight I used my security card again to enter my work building. I rode my bicycle home after that. There would be no record of me leaving work. I’ve made no further use of my mobile phone but I have been using my laptop which I suppose could be traced to this address via the wireless network.
Forgot something. Our aeroplane reports its position to a government agency every few minutes via a sat-link and our movements can be plotted by them in close to real time. I guess I was pretty traceable today.
I showered and the cats are witnesses. I don’t think they’ve set up surveillance cameras in the house… yet.
Other than that I haven’t left the house yet today. But I’m on the computer so I’d guess someone could find me.
I haven’t left the house in days. I guess I have a record of being online most of the day, but no adult could say I was here since I’m mostly alone.
I’m doomed.
I rode the Skytrain a few times today; surveillance cameras, plus recording of my electronic pass as I swiped it along the turnstiles. Spent time in Siam Paragon, the largest shopping center in Southeast Asia; more security cameras. Plus I used my 5%-discount card at their supermarket, so that was entered electronically, plus I withdrew money from an ATM there. Then of course there are the security cameras in our condo that would have recorded my leaving and returning.
Haven’t let the house in days myself. But I’ve been online and on the cell during that period, so that should establish my whereabouts rather convincingly.
Checked out of a hotel at around 5:30. Used my credit card at Walmart at 8:30ish. Picked up my dog from the kennel at 9:03. So far I’m pretty traceable. But the rest of the day I’ll be in.
Pretty traceable. Today, actually, not as much, but it’s the first time in days I’ve been alone. I’ve had a constant stream of eyewitnesses (as in, people I know and talked to or was introduced to, not just strangers on the street) and security cameras and time clocks for a while, not to mention texts and phone calls. Plus, I take the bus to and from work, so I have record of that.
I’m not sure how much they can tell from my phone, exactly, but I have it all- gps enabled and used, texts or calls from almost every place I’ve been, and texts that say stuff like “I’ll be off work at 9, so I’ll be at your place between 9:30 and 10”.
Even considering that I use cash most of the time, and that I ride a bike for most transport, I’ve always got my mobile phone with me and switched on, so I’m probably traceable close to 100% of the time.
ETA:
If your phone is on (you don’t have to be calling or anything like that) and has reception, you’re traceable.
I’ve been home today. Posting here a lot so I suppose that makes me traceable at home.
I was out around town yesterday doing some shopping. I stopped at the ATM at my bank and paid by credit card at WalMart so those two spots are definite. I also stopped at the post office and some rummage sales but my traceability there would depend on somebody remembering me. I also got a phone call in the evening so my phone records would prove I was home.
Let’s see, was out of the house at 7, drove the the jr’s house to pick up little miss moon, arrived at the Toronto Brickworks by 8. It’s possible the parking guy would remember us, it’s under construction so parking is limited. From there we wandered in the Don Valley for a couple of hours. No cameras but if I wanted to cooperate in the tracing there are several dozen pictures that I took. It’s very likely that either the husband or jr miss took some of me in unflattering positions as I tried to line up a shot.
From there we went to the Distillery District where they have signs warning that you are on camera and the footage is kept indefinitely.
Yep, that is how they know the stepmom in the Kyron Horman case that the OP mentioned, is lying about where she went the day of his disappearance. And why they were searching the slough on Sauvie Island for a body. She didn’t mention going there, but her cell phone pings show she did.
A cell phone that is on, even if you make no calls at all, is constantly sending out pings to locate the nearest tower. Since individual cell phone towers only reach maybe five miles each, a pattern of the general area you are in and the time of the pings can be made.
You don’t need to make it GPS enabled to be tracked. There was a contest to find a Wired Magazine reporter who was going to disappear and see how long it took for someone to find him, a couple months ago.
He physically removed the battery from his cell phone while travelling.
I started out the morning running in a 5k, which was pretty traceable. I had signed up using my personal information, and known most people in it since I was around 15 or 16. Of course, it was also traceable due to the large orange arrows and signs on the road. After that, I used my cell phone at least 4 times before the trip to Walmart to get last minute birthday party stuff. I stopped at four stores, but used cash each time, so would only be traceable by the two places where I had turned in my information (for example, my information to the cake making place when I had ordered the cake). I did use a debit card at a gas station in the next town on the way back, which also takes camera shots of every car and customer due to prevention of drive-offs. I then made it back to my house and haven’t left since, but I have been on the internet through my laptop, cell phone, and wii…
There’s a CCTV camera outside my flat, then one opposite the entrance, then one at the bus-stop, then on the buses, then at the tube station, then at most if not all of the shops. I use a registered Oystercard. I have a mobile phone that’s always on and I used it a few times in the course of the day.
There was a British TV show recently about someone trying to move around without being tracked in any way - I don’t think he did too well.
