Most notably Gmail allowed downgrading to insecure connection until the China affair. There are other mail, messaging and social services people use there, some of them regional (e.g. Russian), where perception of security threats is low.

Cell towers per se do not maintain any logs, it is just transceiver equipment connected to communication line. However telecom datacenters provide location services based on signal strength from the handset to cell towers in the area. Many operators make these services available commercially to customers, and the data is nearly always accessible to law enforcement upon request.

Wikipedia provides a good summary of the process: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking

Criminals are smart enough to remove the battery, or not carry a cell phone during a major crime. So this mostly just enables the government and telecom companies to track law-abiding citizens.

Really? All criminals? I'm not a big fan of developments in surveillance, but it's crazy to think that some criminals won't be caught. The fact that they're petty criminals or benefits cheats makes the exercise of debatable value, but not for the reason you state.

Can't remove batteries from iPhones. It's part of the conspiracy!