Do the police know your cell phone number? This state provides information

When searching for criminals, the police can check cell phone numbers that were near a crime scene at a given time. The system is controversial because many innocent people are also potentially targeted. A federal state is now the first to provide information about who is affected.

Berlin creates transparency: radio cell queries from smartphones can be viewed

The so-called radio cell query is a method with which the police can simplify the search for criminals. Whoever was dialed into a cell phone cell near the crime scene at the time of a crime can be determined in retrospect. The chances are good that there are suspects among them.

What sounds simple in theory, however, carries the risk that a lot of bystanders will be checked. The officials request the data for this from the mobile phone providers. The Berlin police are now the first to make transparent which numbers have become known to the police in this context.

Since Wednesday, Berliners have been able to register for information voluntarily and free of charge, explains the Berlin Senate Department for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination (source: RBB24). The new radio cell query transparency system (FTS) was also created there.

Those interested can register online with their mobile phone number (for the AGV). There is a code via SMS that can then be used to call up information that the police have on file. The administration says there should be a lot of interest - or curiosity .

Whether cheap or expensive, all smartphones are potentially traceable via mobile phone providers. We have put together cheap cell phones in the video :

SMS notification only for completed procedures

But you can not only find out about investigative proceedings that were long ago. In the future, people will also be informed via the AGV via SMS if their own number has come up in connection with an investigation - exciting not only for true crime fans. However, there is one important restriction: the notifications are only sent for procedures that have already been completed .

The same system will also be used by civil protection in the future: the cell broadcast, which was decided upon as a result of this year's flood disasters, works in a very similar way. Only here an emergency warning is sent to all cell phones registered via a radio cell. The system has been used in many other countries for a long time.