Work - GPS tracking my Blackberry

[MrValentine]

I'll just say I work for the state of Texas. And it looks like I will be tracked via my BB very soon. Thats fine, but when I asked what kept them from tracking me durring my off hours they said "you'll just have to trust us". Well that just sent red flags flying!!! I dont trust my boss or co-workers!!! If I want to spend Friday evening till Monday morning getting lap dances at a strip club thats my perogative!!! And it shouldnt be known by every person above me and every helpdesk tech!!! And no I just cant turn it off. Because i'm suppost to be "on call 24/7/365" so if I dont answer I can get in trouble for that too.

Does anyone know of any legal recorse I may have? Does anyone know how to defeat this? GPS jammer? Smash BB with hammer? Yell FU at my boss and shove it in his mouth?

I wish I had $$ for a lawyer

 

[Met-AL]

On WM phones, you can toggle the Location Setting. This is the setting pertaining to having your phone tracked all the time or only when calling 911. This also disables the GPS except when making 911 calls.

EDIT: It looks like a similar setting exists for Blackberry phones: http://www.blackberryforums.com/general-8800-series-discussion/78194-gps-location-911-a.html

 

[Menelmarar]

Submit your resignation, tell your boss why, start looking for a new job.

On the positive side, if you have valuable skills, and your boss recognizes that and that you aren't a spineless push over, something may work out in your favor. A lateral or upward move. *shrug*

 

[MrValentine]

I'm not sure turning off the location stops you from being tracked, it just turns off the client GPS. You cant ever turn off the GPS tracking (thanks to our gov). I think I may demand that EVERYONE's black berry be tracked, not just a hand full of us that are on call all the time.

And ya I'm thinking of looking for another job, but damn I was finally comfortable!! I know of a couple jobs, but like a dumbass I let my certifications expire.

 

[swatbat]

I'm not sure turning off the location stops you from being tracked, it just turns off the client GPS. You cant ever turn off the GPS tracking (thanks to our gov). I think I may demand that EVERYONE's black berry be tracked, not just a hand full of us that are on call all the time.

And ya I'm thinking of looking for another job, but damn I was finally comfortable!! I know of a couple jobs, but like a dumbass I let my certifications expire.

Yea with BES they can pretty much lock the phones down anyway.

I would just forward the phone to my personal cell and leave it at home on the weekend.

 

[LibertySyclone]

Yea with BES they can pretty much lock the phones down anyway.

I would just forward the phone to my personal cell and leave it at home on the weekend.

QFT

just get your own personal phone and have your calls forwarded, I refuse to use a BB because I hate them. lol this is just stupid.

Sprint/nextel did this a while back when I was doing IT for a siding company I would always see a crew at the titty bar the day after pay day. sounds like you need some frineds at helpdesk

 

[Michael Daly]

A GPS antenna cannot get a signal through a metal container (not sure what minimum thickness you'd need - maybe just an altoids container). If there's such a thing as an external antenna for a Blackberry, you could put the BB's antenna outside the box so you could receive calls. BTW, AFAIK, GPS patch antennae and cell phone antennae are separate - someone who's an expert can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[LibertySyclone]

They should be seperate, my tilts are.

you need to build a faraday cage for it (cant believe I didnt think of this before thanks mr daly)

get brass screen and make a case for it, that should stop all signals from getting in or out

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage

 

[BrinNutz]

They should be seperate, my tilts are.

you need to build a faraday cage for it (cant believe I didnt think of this before thanks mr daly)

get brass screen and make a case for it, that should stop all signals from getting in or out

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage

If you're going to build one of those, just leave the thing at home. Not like it serves a purpose in the box, since you won't use it anyways.

 

[hoffstetter]

Yea with BES they can pretty much lock the phones down anyway.

I would just forward the phone to my personal cell and leave it at home on the weekend.

This is the only reasonable suggestion so far. I'd go with it.

 

[lodingi]

Yea with BES they can pretty much lock the phones down anyway.

I would just forward the phone to my personal cell and leave it at home on the weekend.

Yup. Forward the calls to a secondary phone.

 

[Michael Daly]

Duh... forward the calls... so obvious why didn't I think of that?

 

[hoffstetter]

Or wear a big round suit and and answer your phone "Yon KNOW where I'm at!"

 

[taylorwilsdon]

I'd stick with the forwarding the phone. Pick up a $10 prepaid phone and put a dimes worth of minutes on it and leave the blackberry at home. Or for extra giggles, hide it behind a strip club or something during work hours.

 

[FlimFlam]

Just attach your BB to a dolphin in the Gulf, and trip them out.

 

[krupted]

or put it in the mail system and tell your boss your out of town on vacation touring the state's post office centers....