this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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Technology
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Out of all the things that someone tried to scare me into worrying about that must be one of the most ridiculous.
Sooooo. This is actually scarier than it may seem....
You can tell what outlet or building a phone is plugged into sometimes by micro aberrations in power output.
Also interestingly you can kind of tell what webpages somebody visits by their phone's power usage:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284567929_Current_Events_Identifying_Webpages_by_Tapping_the_Electrical_Outlet
edit: for stuff like this they kind of need existing power profiles to like compare against, so this is sometimes used to tell if you're "at home" by identifying the charging profile of the charging apparatus you use at night etc.
The GPS, cell tower, and wifi info wouldn't give that away first?
It would! This is just an extra layer of data they can use to identify and infer!
Wait if that's the most ridiculous part, then... Does the smartphone even know when it's switched on or off?
Absolutely. Power log will be uploaded immediately upon power up.