I say "most" because I was driving around Boston but got to where I was going before the program was over. Guess I'll have to listen to the rest online. I was struck by a few things.

First of all, the fact that few people think about or realize that their cell phones have to be locatable by the wireless provider or they would not be able to route calls to your phone. I don't usually give that much thought. Of course, this is easy enough to defeat. Just shut your phone off if you're concerned. But does that mean that eventually people who shut their phones off are going to be considered more "interesting" to people in law enforcement? (Call me paranoid...)

Next, the fact that phone companies have the ability to stream location data to 3rd parties in real time. A caller to the program told about how the phone company he worked at was asked to set up something so the law enforcement people could type a phone number into a form and see the real-time location of the phone on a map. I guess nowadays they can do a Google maps mashup and save the expense of the mapping side.

Then there's the "good" side of tracking. What if you need help? Would you be happy that your phone is telling others where you are? Even if it's only a rough guess?

Anyway, it's thought-provoking material and I'm glad I bumped into it on the radio. Remember to pledge your support for public radio! My local station, WBUR is in the middle of a fundraising drive.