Privacy and the use of cell phones.

[Owen Lewis]

Having just spent a few days in Tennessee, where I was able to make an
informal assessment of the types of wireless public telecommunication in
use, what I found both surprised me and casts an interesting light on on the
recent thread here which discussed the relative importance of the privacy
features in GSM in the public move to the rapid public move from TACS to
GSM.

The first generation of cell-phone technology, TACS, was of US origin but
adopted world-wide. TACS transmits conversations that can be listened to
using commonly available equipment (now illegal in the US) and offers very
little in the way of privacy to persons using the system. The US did not
adopt GSM but preferred to use a home grown technical standard for its 2nd
generation systems also, known as CDMA. CDMA was introduced in the US more
or less at the same time as GSM was in Europe and elsewhere (early 90's).
CDMA transmissions are technically complex and offer privacy that is
comparable with that offered by GSM.  CDMA transmissions can easily be
distinguished from TAS without listening in to either by observing the part
fo the spectrum in which the signals occur

On a basis of over one thousand 25 sec samples of cross-spectrum RF
activity, collected over several days, I found that the vast preponderance
of cellphone traffic (over 97%) was of the first generation TACS type. This
was not at all what I had expected to find. Rather, I would have expected
TACS use to have virtually disappeared, as it has in the EU, with the US
public having migrated to CDMA.

Whereas a sample typical for Nashville might not be typical for (say) New
York,  this observation was so unexpected that I discussed the finding with
the US parties I had travelled to visit. They confirmed that my observation
was in general concurrence with their own samplings around the US. The US
public substantially still uses the first generation TACS system. The
reasons offered for this were as follows:

    1. The US public is not so concerned with matters of privacy as is the
European public (sic).

    2. TACS phones are now given away to those purchasing air time whilst
CDMA units remain  fairly expensive.


It's been touched on before that the views and concerns expressed by most
who gather at such watering holes as ukcrypto are probably not
representative of the general public but does any one know of other evidence
to suggest that the European public is more concerned than the American that
its discussions should not be open to eavesdropping?

Owen