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Yesterday I saw a WhatsApp message. In that, one person is showing the Samsung phone batteries.

He removes the wrapper and takes out the black color thin paper or plastic sheet which is attached with the body of the battery and there are some lines on that, like a circuit, and he claimed that this is a kind of chip to spy on our daily use of mobile phones. Is it true?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Inductive charging ? \$\endgroup\$
    – efox29
    Jun 17, 2015 at 4:16
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    \$\begingroup\$ Both nfc and Qi charger coils are embedded in recent samsung batteries \$\endgroup\$
    – Passerby
    Jun 17, 2015 at 4:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ Without a picture, the question is unclear for the rest of us. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nick Alexeev
    Jun 17, 2015 at 4:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ They are spying on your daily use of the cell phone, but its done using the cell phone part of the cell phone, not through some wires in the battery. \$\endgroup\$
    – tomnexus
    Jun 17, 2015 at 5:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ This question receives by far the highest number of views per time unit (about 400 per day) for the entire site, three times more than number two on the list, What do solid/striped lines on a wire indicate? (about 125). Number 30 on the list has about 50 views per day. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Mortensen
    Feb 7, 2016 at 11:45

1 Answer 1

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That coil is most likely the NFC antenna. If you read the docs for some of the Samsung phones, only specific batteries allow the phone to have NFC capability. In other words, the NFC antenna is part of the battery pack.

NFC is the acronym for Near Field Communications. It is that technology that allows phones to transfer data back and forth just by touching them together.

NFC communications is extremely short range. A gap of a few millimetres will stop the communications.

It is extremely unlikely that this technology can be used to spy on people without their explicit permission - the user must make the conscious choice to place their phone in direct contact with another device.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ You're spot on, it is the NFC antenna. \$\endgroup\$
    – Nils Pipenbrinck
    Jun 17, 2015 at 4:45

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