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Triangulation is a tracking process used widely in the cellular network, and centers around some basic geometric principles. If you take two points (or, in the case of cell phones, two cellular towers), you can find the distance to a third point (the cell phone) by measuring the angles formed between the third point and the first two points. In slightly simpler terms, you’re drawing lines at given angles from the first two points until they both intersect at the third point – forming a triangle. Trigonometry then allows you to figure out the distance to the third point, meaning that you can calculate distances using line-of-sight angles.

The principle of triangulation is used by cell phone service providers to geographically locate and track cell phones. As mentioned earlier, by calculating the angles formed between the cell phone and two base stations, the cell phone’s location can be pinpointed to an extremely fine degree. The technique is most effective in urban areas where base stations are plentiful, allowing for the margin of error in the angles to be minimized. This locating data is often used by cell phone companies to provide location-specific information or allow tracking by family members or friends (often used in the case of senior citizens). Triangulation also has relevance to law enforcement agencies in tracking suspects or criminals.

In more recent times, network triangulation has been supplemented by GPS technology to more accurately pinpoint cell phone location, resulting in hybrid tracking methods like the Assisted GPS (or a-GPS) system. There is still no legislation specifically covering privacy of cell phone data, including triangulated location, in the United States.