How to Defeat GPS on a Cell Phone

Defeat GPS on a cell phone by removing the internal antenna.

If you have a cell phone, it likely is GPS enabled. While this can be a good feature to have in case of an emergency, you may be uncomfortable with the relative ease with which certain groups can track your movements using this GPS feature. If you wish to increase your individual cell phone privacy, you can permanently defeat the GPS on your cell phone by removing the internal antenna. Be sure you are familiar with the inner workings of your cell phone before attempting this modification, otherwise you may damage the phone.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Cell phone
• Jeweler's screwdriver or T4/T5/T6 torx set
• Hobby knife
• Needlenose pliers (optional)

1. Remove the back housing of your phone by removing all the screws and unsnapping the side latches. Take care to not snap the Bluetooth, GPS or main antenna in the process.

2. Look for the GPS antenna, which likely will be on a green board.

3. If your GPS antenna is mounted inside the rear housing, use your hobby knife to free it from the rear housing, then clip the leads. Some GPS antennae are mounted below some green tape. This whole antenna must be removed to maximize the GPS block.

4. Reassemble your phone. Bear in mind that the last connection to the GPS satellites is saved in your cell phone, so do a master reset of the handset. Back up your contacts, SMS messages and pictures before the master reset.

Tips & Warnings

• THIS PROCESS IS LEGAL, JUST IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING. YOU ARE NOT

• ACTIVELY BLOCKING THE GPS.

• You are

• passively

• defeating the antenna, and your modification on your phone will not have any effect on anyone else's phone's (especially those who would prefer to have the GPS connection)functionability.

References

• Privacy Alerts.org; Can Someone Track Me With My Phone?
• ZDnet; FBI Taps Cell Phone Mic as Eavesdropping Tool; Declan McCullagh; December 1, 2006