Tracking a cell phone can help recover a lost or stolen device. It can
also help the user find his location when traveling or keep track of a
family member or loved one. A phone owner can track a cellular phone
using a global positioning satellite, or GPS, chip. The chips are
already installed in many newer phones and can be bought and installed
in older phones. A variety of services are available for tracking the
phone, and many cell phone companies offer GPS locating in-house.
1.
Obtain a cell phone with a GPS
chip. Most newer cell phones, including the BlackBerry, Motorola iDEN,
Boost Mobile, Windows Mobile and many others, already contain GPS chips.
Some phones, especially older phones, do not have the chips
installed. Find out from the manufacturer if the phone will take a GPS
chip. If so, the chips can be bought at cell phone stores, from the
manufacturer or over the Internet. Install according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
2. Check with the cell phone service company to determine if its network
has GPS capability. Most larger services, such as Verizon,
Cingular/AT&T and Sprint/Nextel, provide the service. Disney Mobile
is designed to allow child cell-phone tracking through GPS.
3. Find a location-based service, such as AccuTracking or uLocate.com,
which often works with the cell phone service companies. Independent
services such as Mologogo and others are also available. These services
may charge small or moderate fees for GPS tracking.
4. Use the computer to go to the location-based service provider's website.
Log in and follow instructions to subscribe and to download its
software to the computer. Use the computer-phone cable to connect the
cell phone to be tracked to the computer. Follow the instructions to
load the GPS-tracking software from the computer into the cell phone,
and, if necessary, to activate it using the phone's menu.
5.
Give the phone to the user and
use the computer to log onto the location-based service provider's
tracking website. Depending on the service, it can show the phone's
location on a Google or MapQuest grid. Some services can also tell at
what speed the phone is traveling, how long it has been in one position
and even the altitude. Some services will send a text message to another
cell phone if the tracked phone leaves a pre-determined area.
If the tracker has a cell phone with wireless Internet access, she may be able to use that instead of a PC to track the phone.
