# Scanner that allows listening into people's mobile phone calls? Illegal?



## One

I know a person who saya that he has purchased a scanner that allows him to listen into people's mobile phone calls? I don't really believe him at all. But if he is doing that, is that expressly illegal?


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## JamesGG

Unless he is very wealthy or works for the CIA, hes full of waffle.


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## jhegarty

No , he hasn't.

Unless he has re-mortgaged his house to buy the hardware.


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## Nutso

A few years ago I knew guys who had "scanners" and could listen to phone calls around the area they were in...  I doubt that they had funds to buy any CIA type equipment so there must be some cheaper alternatives available....


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## bullworth

Nutso said:


> A few years ago I knew guys who had "scanners" and could listen to phone calls around the area they were in...  I doubt that they had funds to buy any CIA type equipment so there must be some cheaper alternatives available....



That was when the phone signals were analogue. Do you remember when the mobile networks changed over ?
 Now they are digital and encrypted beyond the abilities of most people to crack.


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## jhegarty

Are you sure it wasn't cordless phones , or back in the 088 days ?


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## bazermc

One said:


> I know a person who saya that he has purchased a scanner that allows him to listen into people's mobile phone calls? I don't really believe him at all. But if he is doing that, is that expressly illegal?


 
The question to ask is why he is listening to phone calls rather than is it illegal? Invasion of privacy so probably illegal.


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## itsallwrong

Don't know about listening. 
But the mere fact you have digitally broken into a line of communication is illegal.

It is illegal to record a phone call without consent. 
A court order to 'tap' the line is needed. And the only people who get that are the garda, only after presenting a case before a judge and for good reason.

Everything is digitally encrypted these days. 
Ask him what encryption is used on GSM mobiles. Bet he hasn't a clue. 
Bar the NSA or CIA, the means to 'hack' a phone call is big brother stuff.
Serious hardware and knowledge are needed.

'Looks like all that GSM code-cracking is progressing faster than we thought. Soon after the discovery of the 64-bit A5/1 GSM encryption flaw last month, the geniuses at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science went ahead and cracked the KASUMI system -- a 128-bit A5/3 algorithm implemented across 3G networks '
January 15th 2010 6:45AM

Bear in mind these people are maths boffins, not a bloke with a scanner.


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## Nutso

bullworth said:


> That was when the phone signals were analogue. Do you remember when the mobile networks changed over ?
> Now they are digital and encrypted beyond the abilities of most people to crack.



Ah yes, it's probably more years ago than I'd like to think ;-)
That's good to know....


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## Slim

itsallwrong said:


> It is illegal to record a phone call without consent.


 
I was told by a solicitor a couple of years ago that it is not illegal to record a phone call, assuming you are one of the parties to the call, but it would be illegal to then use that recording without consent.


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## bullworth

Slim said:


> I was told by a solicitor a couple of years ago that it is not illegal to record a phone call, assuming you are one of the parties to the call, but it would be illegal to then use that recording without consent.



Illegal to use it in which way ? What could be wrong with using a recording to prove that someone said or did something they later denied saying or doing ?


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## Smashbox

I'd say he got a cheap or free app on his phone that says they can listen into other peoples conversations. Not true though!


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## Slim

bullworth said:


> Illegal to use it in which way ? What could be wrong with using a recording to prove that someone said or did something they later denied saying or doing ?


 
It's the consent issue really. If you are using a recording to prove or defend a serious charge then I suppose the use of the recording is secondary to the main issue. Banks and insurance companies go to great lengths to tell you they are recording the call.


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## Hillsalt

He can listen to anyone on the Eircell network with an 088 number.


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## alexandra123

You used to be able to do it with scanners at a certain frequency - but this was when the calls were analogue. The calls are now digital and encrypted, so it is not that easy to do it now, but it is still possible with the right equipment. You could listen to security men on walkie talkies no problem. 

It is illegal to do this. The police used to have a scanner - that would scan places and see if they could detect scanners in use. They can take the scanner off you, if they think you are using it illegally.


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## truthseeker

Hillsalt said:


> He can listen to anyone on the Eircell network with an 088 number.



If he also had a time machine.

[broken link removed]


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## bullworth

alexandra123 said:


> It is illegal to do this. The police used to have a scanner - that would scan places and see if they could detect scanners in use. They can take the scanner off you, if they think you are using it illegally.



This sounds like the TV license detector myth. A scanner would receive broadcasts not send them unless it was a very poorly or strangely designed scanner.
Incidentally I remember encountering Garda/emergency services transmissions accidentally on my transistor radio when I was a kid just by turning the dial to the end. That's a lot of radios out there to detect


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## PetrolHead

There are some very cost effective ways of listening in and monitoring mobile phone use. However, it has to be a smart phone and you need to have surreptitiously installed some software onto it first. Once that's done however, its quite scary how much information you can lift off of the target handset. 

http://www.howtocellphonespy.com/mobile-spy-software-reviews


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## Jason1025

I have heard about these spying apps, but I didn't think they meant a  real threat.. So nowadays anyone who spend a few bucks on a spy  application can intercept my calls or even look into my text messages  and confidential data on my "smart"phone? That is scary.. There has to  be a clever app to avoid eavesdroppers. Probably I couldn't find it yet.


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