Disable Verizon E911 Service?

[bobbydudeman]

I have a Verizon BlackBerry 9650, and I'm someone who is quite concerned about privacy (almost completely unheard of in the century we live in ). As such, I'm not particularly thrilled about the cops being able to triangulate my location on the grid. I'm not partaking in criminal or immoral activities, so don't mention that, but I really don't appreciate having Big Brother peering over my shoulder at all times.

I don't care if it's "illegal" to deactivate E911. The fourth amendment gives me the right to my privacy. Next thing you know, they're going to enforce the VeriChip.

Also, I don't believe that law enforcement can "only locate my phone after I have dialed 911 and spoken to a dispatcher". I'm not that gullible.

So, is there a way to deactivate this privacy-violating software of theirs? Add-ons, hacks, software tweaks, etc. I don't care if it voids the warranty, my privacy is more valuable than a 500 dollar piece of electronics.

Thanks

[chrisy520]

No, there's no way to disable e911. You can opt out of using the device if you disagree with the TOS.

[bobbydudeman]

Great, really helpful, thanks. And, yes, maybe I WILL opt out. Because if you want someone to be raping your right to privacy, fine, your call, enjoy yourself. But I will not be broadcasting my personal information to Big Brother.

[John Yester]

You can't turn it off, disable it it, etc.

It's a federal law that all active and non active phones have this feature always on.

As an emergency responder I can only cringe that someone would want this taken away....




But here is some info:

The regulations established by the FCC are mandatory for all interconnected VoIP service providers, and are designed to protect the safety of VoIP users who expect that when they dial 911, emergency responders know exactly where they are and will quickly arrive on-scene. Specifically, the FCC requires VoIP service providers to:


Deliver all 911 calls to the local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), along with the subscriber’s call back number and location information (where the PSAP is capable of receiving it)

Offer subscribers a simple and easy way to update their registered physical location, should it change

Inform subscribers of the capabilities and limitations of the E911 service they provide

[chrisy520]

I don't know of anyway to disable it. I Google'd it for you, Mr Sarcasm. Yes, if I cared that much I would opt out. Pretty simple. I don't use Facebook for that reason. Or you can just keep complaining I guess. Your choice.

[bobbydudeman]

If it's a "federal law", then i would love to be enlightened as to why there is no such thing with GSM providers such as T-Mobile and AT&T?

If you can only cringe that someone would want this taken away, tell me, does it make you "cringe" that your phone's location can be tracked at any time, and that the police is now attaching GPS receivers to people's cars without warrants?

Think about whether this is really being used solely for security purposes, or if there is any violation of privacy that is occurring? You work in the police force, you have direct access to all of the information required to analyze such a situation.

worst case scenario, I will be physically disabling the GPS antenna in my blackberry, or switching to GSM.

[chrisy520]

T-Mobile and AT&T are e911 compliant as far as I know. Also, it doesn't use the GPS. e911 uses cell tower triangulation.

[bobbydudeman]

1. Facebook does not give your exact GPS coordinates. It can give your IP, which with a BlackBerry in North America is in Waterloo, Ontario, and in Europe is somewhere in England.

2. You obviously don't seem to care about the fact that living in this century, we are equivalent to lab mice under observation.

[chrisy520]

No, I don't care. Therefore, I use the service. As stated e911 cannot be disabled. Your choice is to not use the service, or act to get It banned.

Will you do either?

[bobbydudeman]

Okay, fine. It's my choice to be concerned, and it's yours not to give a f***. But that's obviously not very important. Do you have any information about the physical location of the E911 A-GPS antenna on the BlackBerry 9650, or should I look elsewhere?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Shao128]

Enough is enough, if you want to be rude go do it somewhere else, if you want to violate FCC regulations go do that somewhere else too.