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Phone Tracking: Sources And Methods

Walk through each data source police use to reconstruct a phone's movements after a crime

Tower 1Tower 2Tower 3target phonesource: Carrier logsaccuracy: 50-2000mmethod 1 of 8
Step 1 / 8CDR: Call Detail Records

Every call, SMS, and data session is logged by the carrier with the serving cell tower ID, timestamp, IMSI, and IMEI. Police request these records with a court order. The tower ID reveals which cell sector the phone was in during each event.

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