Reply #10: It's an overstatement to call it GPS.

[TheWraith]

A few phones have true GPS, but most have a system that localizes your position using what cellular towers your phone can "see." It's semi-accurate in big cities where there's a lot of towers, but the farther you get from urban environments the less accurate it is. Out here in the country, you can only get a location to within about 3 miles.

"Assuming this option is available, and yes, there is an aspect of big brother to it, then why won't the phone companies let us use this service to find a lost cellphone?"

Too much chance for abuse. Suppose somebody else called in, claiming to be you having "lost" your phone. If they talked the company into triangulating the phone's location, they could track you. Also, even if you could get a location accurate to within a couple hundred feet or so--which is not within the abilities of most phones--it would still be a needle in a haystack trying to find a lost phone.