Mobile Phone Companies Provide Real Time Tracking Information to Feds; Probable Cause Optional
November 23rd, 2007“It’s an angle that you haven’t heard about yet.”
Via: Washington Post:
Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.
In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.
Such requests run counter to the Justice Department’s internal recommendation that federal prosecutors seek warrants based on probable cause to obtain precise location data in private areas. The requests and orders are sealed at the government’s request, so it is difficult to know how often the orders are issued or denied.
The issue is taking on greater relevance as wireless carriers are racing to offer sleek services that allow cellphone users to know with the touch of a button where their friends or families are. The companies are hoping to recoup investments they have made to meet a federal mandate to provide enhanced 911 (E911) location tracking. Sprint Nextel, for instance, boasts that its “loopt” service even sends an alert when a friend is near, “putting an end to missed connections in the mall, at the movies or around town.”
With Verizon’s Chaperone service, parents can set up a “geofence” around, say, a few city blocks and receive an automatic text message if their child, holding the cellphone, travels outside that area.
“Most people don’t realize it, but they’re carrying a tracking device in their pocket,” said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Cellphones can reveal very precise information about your location, and yet legal protections are very much up in the air.”
Yes, I’ve always known this was the case, which is why I only carry my cellphone with me when I absolutely must. Otherwise, I just use it as if it were a landline phone. (Landlines these days tend to be more expensive, and a quarter of what you pay on your monthly bill if you haven’t made a significant amount of long-distance calls is taxes of one kind or another. Honestly, they should be called “taxlines”.)
People are such goddamn sheep. I’ve never had a cellphone nor do I have any desire to own one. I see people walking/driving around with those things glued to their ears like it’s some kinda lifeline. I remember when the only people who had a mobile phone were drug dealers and doctors.
Here’s a trail breadcrumb for you to follow little lemming- straight off the cliff…
This may be some original research on the subject:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=369189&cid=21456697
This guy says local news reported police caught a local fugitive by tracking his cell phone only 20 minutes after IDing him. The implications are that your ID is indexed to your cell phone, and both the index and live tracking data are available to law enforcement.