Inventors of surveillance systems reported to authorities that it is possible to track absolutely any user who has a mobile phone, and the location of a person is not important, it doesn’t matter whether he is near or in another country.
In order to provide communication services, networks need to know the exact location of their users. According to the experts, the surveillance programs accumulate information about the location of a person secretly to monitor his movement constantly.
The most famous intelligence services around the world, such as the National Security Agency of the USA and The Government Communications Headquarters of the United Kingdom use information from mobile phones for a long time. However, due to the new systems in countries that are less developed technically, it is possible to track people around the world easily.
The information on what exactly countries have bought such surveillance system is still unknown. However, there is information that in the past few years, many countries have already bought such technology, and some even rented it.
Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International warned about the possibilities of new spy technology abuse, because absolutely anyone who is able to buy such a system can track people around the world.
The specialists underline that hackers, criminal gangs and the countries under sanctions could use technologies. There is a ban on surveillance without a warrant or object‘s consent in many countries, but in international law there is no standard about the secret surveillance of people in other countries. Also, there is no institution that would be able to identify potential abuse.
Location surveillance is not a novelty nowadays. A user can disable this feature on mobile phone by uselessness. It should be noted that the systems, designed for intelligence services and police, are very difficult to block.
Private corporations provide a large selection of such technologies. Some of intercept communication signals from phones that are near, while others install malicious software on your device to get your location.
With the help of programs that can be connected to the database, the government can spy on people from other countries with the help of a mobile phone, through any operators, even without their knowledge. Also, the systems can also be used with technologies, which can intercept Internet traffic, calls, switch on mobile microphones and access photos, documents, contacts of the user.
Besides the advertising of some manufacturers was found, for example, in the advertising booklet of SkyLock system, produced by American Verint Company, the information that their system offers agencies the best way to obtain data on the location of known objects was written. Screenshots of the maps that show the surveillance in Mexico, Nigeria, Congo and other countries were included in the booklet. It also states that Verint doesn’t use SkyLock against mobile devices in the USA and Israel. Such systems are sold by Swiss and Ukrainian companies and have no restrictions.
There is SS7 network, used by mobile operators to communicate with each other by forwarding SMS, calls and data. The specialists say network protection from the forbidden entrance to the network is very vulnerable and it is easy to deceive.
Corporations that sell surveillance systems through SS7 recommend using them in conjunction with IMSI catchers, one of the most popular spy devices, with which you can catch the right mobile signal on the air to intercept phone calls, send fake SMS, install on smartphones spy software and learn exact location.
If you do not know the approximate location of the object, the IMSI catchers become useless. You will come to the aid of SS7.
