How is it possible to "trace" the call without a SIM card inserted? has anyone have

[kocoman]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1223990--toronto-police-psa-aims-to-reduce-butt-dials-to-9-1-1


Operators must assume a call is an emergency until they know otherwise, said Kwong. Operators will try calling the person back, but if there is no call-back number, they have to trace the call or show up in-person, in case it was an emergency.

Toronto police are asking cellphone users to lock their keypads to avoid making the unintentional call. If the person realizes they accidentally dialed 9-1-1, police say not to hang up on them—it’s faster to explain the mistake than to have them trace the call or dispatch officers

How is it possible to "trace" the call without a SIM card inserted? has anyone have this experience before?

[ceredon]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1223990--toronto-police-psa-aims-to-reduce-butt-dials-to-9-1-1



How is it possible to "trace" the call without a SIM card inserted? has anyone have this experience before?
The GSM standard allows you to make calls to 911 (or 112 in EU) whether you have a SIM card inserted or not. All a SIM card does is authenticate your device/account on the network. Not having a SIM inserted doesn't prevent your phone from being able to connect to the network, which they will allow for emergency calls. Given that, tracing a device without a SIM is identical to tracing it with a SIM. They would determine the tower that you are connected to in order to get a general area.

[Winkle]

The GSM standard allows you to make calls to 911 (or 112 in EU) whether you have a SIM card inserted or not. All a SIM card does is authenticate your device/account on the network. Not having a SIM inserted doesn't prevent your phone from being able to connect to the network, which they will allow for emergency calls. Given that, tracing a device without a SIM is identical to tracing it with a SIM. They would determine the tower that you are connected to in order to get a general area.

Bingo. All cellphones can, at a minimum, make 911 calls even without a SIM card.

[kocoman]

Yes Canada requires all phones to use 911. In the article, it sounded like the operator can "Trace" your number even if you don't have SIM card installed. I think many gevey/rebel sim users have this problem when they unlock their iphone, and that people are not actually "accidentally pocket dialling", instead they are unlocking their iPhones

[bryan35]

A phone can also be traced with the power off.

[kocoman]

A phone can also be traced with the power off.

Can you give some links or technical details?, I haven't buy gevey yet because of this issue, it seems 911 is cracking down or gevey users..

[bryan35]

Can you give some links or technical details?, I haven't buy gevey yet because of this issue, it seems 911 is cracking down or gevey users..

No. Just know the cops can trace a cell phone that is powered down. Take the battery out if you don't want to be tracked.

[ceredon]

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
"Roving bug"

Article mentions that the phone or software would have to modified, but then that was 6 years ago so who knows what the vendors may or may not be required to implement before it leaves the manufacturer.