mbirth comments on Apple's new iPhone and iPad security feature limits cell networks from collecting precise location data

[–] mbirth@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)

the radio signal alone, triangulated, will locate you within a meter

I'm pretty sure that only works in perfect conditions, i.e. outside, no obstacles or walls.

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[–] slowcakes@programming.dev 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Radio towers are all ready adjusted to the location where they are setup. The signal to you phone has already taken into account bounces, amount of buildings, material on the buildings, how it effects the amplitude, wavelength, signal strength and disruption. And the signal is adjusted to take all those things into account, relative good to send you 5g frequencies with minor issues. They have no issue triangulating phones, trust me.

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[–] mbirth@lemmy.ml 1 point 9 months ago (1 child)

Okay, according to this somewhat recent paper, chapter VI, C., static "obstructions" (e.g. buildings) can be put into a model and «precise position estimates» can be calculated «even in obstructed line-of-sight scenarios». Emphasis on "estimates". But it's only talking about one obstruction, not multiple in a complex arrangement. But, of course, the more BTSes receive you, the better the prediction.

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[–] slowcakes@programming.dev 2 points 9 months ago

It's a whole science there are multiple techniques involved. Looking up stuff like Path Loss should be a start if you are intressted, you can also probably read the 5G protocol from Ericsson or Qualcomm, to find more details of their capabilities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_loss https://www.berec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files/document_register_store/2020/11/Ericsson%20_Presentation_BEREC_TWTI_12112020.pdf

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