There are many reasons for wanting to track a mobile phone, whether you want to track your children’s whereabouts, the activities of elderly relatives or for business requirements the location of essential staff. Nowadays mobile tracking is easy and cost effective.
All portable phones are equipped Who Called Me from This Phone Number? with a SIM card, this is what makes the phone work, send SMS etc and it is this piece of technology that allows for simple mobile phone tracking without the need to install GPS devices or low jack the telephone.
To locate the position of a mobile telephone the tracking centres just send out a call to the appropriate mobile phone number and this will silently ring twice, before terminating the call. The mobile tracking centre then connects to the phone and using the network of communication satellites orbiting the world are able to pinpoint the phones co-ordinates.
The use of mobile tracking requires the owner agreement to the tracking in the first place and the tracking company will send a SMS message to announce that a request has been received to follow the phone. Once the required mobile phone has been activated then the customer merely has to decide on when they wish to check the location of the phone and a tracking call is made.
This information can then be accessed by the customer. Simply by logging onto their account they can instantly see the mobile phones last reported position. This can either be done on a WAP enabled mobile phone or for the home or office using a normal PC. World mapping systems like Google Maps or Google Earth give the customer a clear and exact location of the phone.
Current legislation means that it is only possible for clients to follow their mobile phones so long as they are UK registered and not travelling abroad, this includes the Republic of Ireland. While it is possible to track a phone into another country, legally it is not allowed at present and in the same respect UK based companies cannot track foreign phones around the UK.
It is also illegal to track a phone for which you do not have permission or that the owner has not been notified. Anyone who instigates a track without consent will be breaking the Regulation of Investigation Powers Act, also known as the RIPA. Contravening this act can lead to a prosecution, hefty fine and up to two years in prison.