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Comment by ummonk | Hacker News Reader

Or they could just, you know, leave the phone at home...

Or turn it off.

EDIT: Yes, that creates a data point that police could also search for — "give me all the phones in the vicinity that were turned off and then back on surrounding the incident." Okay, how far away? That would be a massively larger search, geographically, wouldn't it? How far before and after is your window for turning off and back on events?

That's still an additional search. It's also probably got a far worse signal:noise ratio than proximity to the incident — assuming the robbers were dumb enough to have their phones on them (and on) in the first place.

Better to use normal behaviour than unusual. Unless of course you turn your phone off often during x time of the robbery.

But most people don't unless it runs out of battery and rarely when they are at home (people just plug it in when they are home).

Not that this is useful in court but it could point detectives in your direction.

Turning it off could leave a trace: "this phone was turned off 15 minutes before the robbery started, and was turned on 15 minutes after the robbery ended, both events in a location which is 15 minutes by car from the bank".

Leaving it at home, without turning it off, leaves no such trace; it's consistent with "this phone's user simply stayed at home today".

"Let's check their car's infotainment data connection."

"We got 'em!"

Maybe a good thing that pre-infotainment cars exist? ;)

And public transport, bicycles, roller skates, stolen vehicles and feet.

And after you've robbed the bank, you have huge duffel bags of cash and the cops are after you, you're gunna roller skate away?

Or perhaps just bike away. https://historythings.com/choir-boy-bandit-robbed-26-banks-9...

You gotta walk/take busses with masks and hats on. Change clothes in a tunnel.

Is it possible to auto answer a call? In that case you could call the phone and there would be proof not only that you were at home, but that you were having a conversation.

Google could probably detect atypical usage patterns. If you’re always on your phone and suddenly there is no accelerometer delta then you’re likely not at home with your phone but somewhere away from it.

or it is charging

Better to just have the kid play with it all night. And, of course, tell the wife (assuming she's in on it) to watch a lot of Jackie Chan movies on Netflix all night.

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