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http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/07/15/201490397/How-Hackers-Tapped-Into-My-Verizon-Cellphone-For-250 I originally heard this story back in July and I figured I'd post a topic about it. Cellphone companies have to ensure that people can use their service in their homes, but many newer homes have great roofing insulation.. so good that it blocks RF signals aka cellphone service as a side effect. So the cellphone companies made a product called a femtocell to give people in blackout areas or low signal areas full cellphone service. My brother had one of these when he was using Sprint. It connected to his high speed internet and he got a much better signal. These femtocells can be bought in electronic stores and online.. The range on these are small.. If someone is going to spy on you, it'll most likely be a neighbor in an apartment building where more people could be affected. Your phone will not show any roaming bars or give you any notification that you are on a femtocell (some might give you a double dial tone but only when making a call, not receiving one).. the phone will look like its on a regular connection and you will never know if someone is reading all your texts or recording your calls. Now think about how easily the police or NSA can listen in..

This is an email I received from Sprint. I can only assume all major cell phone providers have a similar policy in place at this time. As for me, I don't want Sprint tracking my usage.. even if it is supposed to be anonymous. Its one thing to track usage to determine problems with their network but there is no reason to track what websites I am browsing. To change these settings in Sprint, you have to log in, click on my preferences and then click "Manage mobile advertising and reporting preferences" then change the settings for each phone in your account. Oh, and make sure you use Internet Explorer because even though the rest of the site works fine in Firefox, this one particular link will only load in Internet Explorer. wtf.