Do cell phone companies track your every move?

I have received quite a few e-mails and phone calls over the past few years asking if cell phone companies track people through the GPS and/or cell signal in their phones. This was a pretty ridiculous consideration a few years ago when most mobiles were much less than the entertainment and communication devices we see today. I still remember back-in-the-day when my family got a cellular telephone built into our Mercedes Benz SEL560. It was an option for the low, low price of $1,400 or something and airtime ran a few $ (yes whole dollars) per minute. There was no such thing as text messages or digital services, it was all analog all the time. How far we have come...

But in answer to the question about cell phone companies tracking you, the answer is yes & no. It all depends on how paranoid you are and how much you believe me or not :-)

Perhaps we should turn to a more reputable source of information:
The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams