This private company has used sattelites (ones even higher up than Starlink sattelites) to map RF signals all over the globe for a decade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HawkEye_360
This includes cell signals, they can map every single cellphone in the world and it’s location.
Newer cell signals (4G and 5G) don’t leak any identifying signals, but 2G and 3G signals leak signals that identify your exact phone, and is 100% visible from space.
Starlink literally has direct to cell capability. Their orbits are around 300-600km, and this is well within reach for two way communication for cellphones as there’s nothing in the way (no trees, no buildings, just space). GPS satellites are one-way, because they’re at geostationary orbit of 35,786km. GPS antennae are powerful enough to shout at your phone, but your phone isn’t powerful enough to shout back; with Starshield’s orbit your phone can.
Starlink has deals with T-Mobile in the US and others across the world to provide cellphone coverage. They have a webpage for it and the concept is proven. https://www.starlink.com/business/direct-to-cell
The point I’m making is that this turns Starlink into global cellphone towers, existing extrajudicially to almost all the countries they effectively operate in. Furthermore, as they move (and quite quickly at that) it becomes easy for them to take multiple measurements from different locations over time, allowing them to get high accuracy location information even if only one or two satellites are nearby (with cell towers you would need at least 3 as they’re at a fixed location). And on top of that the two-way communication to devices creates an avenue for exploits - maybe not all of those available to a Stingray device (which is much closer and potentially overpowers and blocks ground based cell towers) but certainly a potential for things that I find concerning.
They currently have a couple hundred direct to cell satellites out of the total constellation of 6,-8,000 satellites. However this may just be the number of satellites allocated to the commercial product; having watched most of the Falcon 9 Starlink launches I had the impression there were more direct to cell ones up there. This number also doesn’t include the Starshield satellites in the constellation, which are owned by the US Space Force and have classified capabilities.
Cell signals don’t reach satellites… even if they did the signal wouldn’t provide any sort of positioning data.
Hah.
This private company has used sattelites (ones even higher up than Starlink sattelites) to map RF signals all over the globe for a decade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HawkEye_360
This includes cell signals, they can map every single cellphone in the world and it’s location. Newer cell signals (4G and 5G) don’t leak any identifying signals, but 2G and 3G signals leak signals that identify your exact phone, and is 100% visible from space.
That’s incredibly cool and disconcerting. Yet another dystopian stone unturned.
It’s only a couple decades and some from '48.
Starlink literally has direct to cell capability. Their orbits are around 300-600km, and this is well within reach for two way communication for cellphones as there’s nothing in the way (no trees, no buildings, just space). GPS satellites are one-way, because they’re at geostationary orbit of 35,786km. GPS antennae are powerful enough to shout at your phone, but your phone isn’t powerful enough to shout back; with Starshield’s orbit your phone can.
Starlink has deals with T-Mobile in the US and others across the world to provide cellphone coverage. They have a webpage for it and the concept is proven. https://www.starlink.com/business/direct-to-cell
The point I’m making is that this turns Starlink into global cellphone towers, existing extrajudicially to almost all the countries they effectively operate in. Furthermore, as they move (and quite quickly at that) it becomes easy for them to take multiple measurements from different locations over time, allowing them to get high accuracy location information even if only one or two satellites are nearby (with cell towers you would need at least 3 as they’re at a fixed location). And on top of that the two-way communication to devices creates an avenue for exploits - maybe not all of those available to a Stingray device (which is much closer and potentially overpowers and blocks ground based cell towers) but certainly a potential for things that I find concerning.
They currently have a couple hundred direct to cell satellites out of the total constellation of 6,-8,000 satellites. However this may just be the number of satellites allocated to the commercial product; having watched most of the Falcon 9 Starlink launches I had the impression there were more direct to cell ones up there. This number also doesn’t include the Starshield satellites in the constellation, which are owned by the US Space Force and have classified capabilities.