Mobile Phones – Keeping Watch

[Kalyan]

Mobile Phones – Keeping Watch

Government is funding technological research that involves mobile phones and will be the biggest surveillance operation in the UK.

The biggest ever surveillance to take place in the UK is being funded by the Government. Mobile phone masts will allow security authorities to watch people going about their business almost anywhere in Britain.

The idea behind this new technology is that when radio waves are emitted by mobile phone masts when they meet an obstacle, the technology picks up on shapes made by the waves. The signals then bounce back after hitting these objects and are filtered by the receiver. This, therefore, tracks anything that is moving, including people.

An individual with a certain type of receiver could theoretically use it as a personal radar unit, which would cover the area around the user. Another side of this technology, that researchers are looking into developing, is giving the new equipment X-ray vision so that it will be able to see into people's houses.

Police and security services are said to be interested in a range of the possible surveillance equipment. Amongst others, this is a reason why the Ministry of Defence officials want to introduce the surveillance systems as soon as is possible.

The system, which is used alongside technology that allows people with mobile phones to be identified, will allow officials to watch and track the movements of people who are hundreds of miles away.

For some, it's a breech of civil liberties, whereas for others it is a huge advantage that will prevent potential crimes and locate people. Another advantage would be that large areas that need protecting, such as an RAF base, will be able to be watched without the burden of having many expensive cameras installed.

At the moment, senior police officers have the right and the ability in order to access mobile phone and email records without any judicial assent and it is thought that within just two years, all mobile phones will have satellite locating technology built into them.