Remember when people were able to monitor cordless phone calls? Maybe you do or maybe that was before your time. Back in the 90s you didn’t have to worry about your cell phone being bugged because most people didn’t have cell phones yet. Instead they used cordless phones within their homes that operated on frequencies that were relatively easy to monitor. A police scanner purchased at the local electronics store could be used to listen in on anyone using a cordless phone from hundreds of feet away. Wireless baby monitors used the same technology making it possible for someone outside to listen in on what was going on in your children’s room as well. Not a comforting feeling is it?

That was before digital radio technology. While some baby monitors and cordless phones that are still in existence use these analog channels, most of the newer ones operate by using an encrypted digital signal, making it much more difficult intercept. This does not mean that your cell phone calls cannot still be monitored by someone who has the right equipment. While expensive it is still absolutely available to anyone who is willing to pay the price. What are we talking about exactly? Well as an example consider that radio scanners capable of picking up analog radio signals could be purchased for under $100. Presently you would have to invest a couple thousand dollars to buy equipment that is able to receive and decrypt digital phone signals. In other words, someone who wanted to spy on you through your cell phone would need to be serious about it not to mention willing to invest a considerable amount of money into this venture.

So if you’re worrying about your cell phone being tapped you might also think about the possibility that it may not necessarily be tapped but that your transmissions are being intercepted somewhere else. Somewhere outside of your home or whatever location you happen to be in. Also remember that besides the possibility of picking up on the radio transmission from your phone, every telephone call you make is routed through at least one telephone central office where someone with access to their equipment can pretty much intercept or do anything they want to with your communications. While it is always possible that someone with a warrant can use it to enable this type of interception it is also possible for someone who has access to the equipment to perform unauthorized surveillance on your telephone communications. Even if no one has physically tapped your cell phone someone with access to the telephone company’s central office could easily listen in on or record your phone calls.