Secret Warrants Granted for Cellphone Tracking »
Posted By Beau7890 10 months, 3 weeks ago in Science & TechnologyFederal 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. Such requests run counter to the Justice Department's internal recommendation.
Read Full Story at washingtonpost.com »
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Beau7890
I used to have a quote here from Andre Breton, author of several surrealist works.
I now think that if you're here on Propeller ...
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Aidenag10 months, 3 weeks ago
This is exactly what people warned about happening due to the Bush administration's lax views on constitutional rights following 9/11 and the patriot act.
First it was just the 'terrorists' who's rights we took away. Now its petty crimes, drug users and dealers, and as the article mentions, pretty much anyone they please with or without probable cause.
What's next?
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earthlingerer10 months, 3 weeks ago
This is only one of those newfangled American "Writs of Assistance."
But if we can get every anglo-saxon grandma who's been talking subversively, you know it's got every idiot's OK.
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joeblowe10 months, 3 weeks ago
Please notice THIS: According to this article, the FBI et al ARE going to the courts to get warrants as required by the Constitution. That's an improvement. Now, if the judges are not requiring the probable cause that is ALSO required by the constitution, that's yet another area the Supreme Court needs to address and get under control.
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tkyrchncs10 months, 3 weeks ago
The GPS locator can be turned off on many cell phones, and on mine it automatically cuts back on if you dial 911. The tower search does not operate if the phone is off. Complain to the judiciary if you are aware that they are not requiring CONCRETE, SPECIFIC information under probable cause, and find out if your cell phone carrier supplies information to law enforcement without a warrant.
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walden310 months, 3 weeks ago
This is further proof of the continual desensitization of Americans to the government's degradation of our core set of values. Our core values aren't about who gets to marry who. It's about our constitutional rights. Without Americans continuously striving to protect our bill of rights we are only as free as our government allows us to be.
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ecotourusa10 months, 3 weeks ago
walden-
you may not agree with me, but, much of this is happening as a result of globalization and the encouraged "invasion" of illegal immigrants.
And, according to our constitution, the invasion is an act of war.
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CORVIDIVS10 months, 3 weeks ago
THE REAL BOGUS ABOUT ALL THIS is any joe terrorist,or target worth his salt has seen this story.It's easy as all hey to take someone's phone for a 'joyride',and then the supposed good guys are back to square one(1)... and ripping off someone's phone may indicate his/her life as well...
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AmericanIdiot10 months, 3 weeks ago
Government and police don't need chips to track our movements. Every cellphone has a GPS signal that goes out whenever the phone is turned on or off. Fairly accurate, so they say. They caught a murderer in New York City that way last year.
Oh, but I repeat myself.
Wait, it gets better. There is no need for a warrant or any probable cause for police to obtain cellphone records and locational data. All cellphone providers in the USA have signed contracts with the FCC, promising to allow real-time data flows of customer records.
They don't need to be subpoenad, because they have already agreed to provide the information.
In other words, the Feds are listening to potentially any call, for any reason, at any time, and they don't need to ask permission. It is inadmissable evidence, of course, but the cops usually find something better in the course of their searches and interrogations.
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TheVisionary10 months, 3 weeks ago
This is just...frightening. I mean really frightening AmericanIdiot. I don't know how to respond to this honestly. I knew the government had to do very little to obtain our records but this is just... Is this what this country has become?
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Beau789010 months, 3 weeks ago
We've been giving various entities information about ourselves for decades in the interest of convenience. Think about the discount cards at groceries and retail chains, the information given every time you make a purchase through a credit card, etc. Every time you make an insurance claim, your information goes into a database. Same for visits to a doctor. The government has all kinds of info on us thanks to tax forms, drivers licenses, almost anything you need to fill out forms to enter.
Now we carry transponders (tiny transmitters) in cellphones; cars; keys; ID cards; automatic payment devices like toll passes, gas station "quick passes" and mass transit cards. These kinds of potential tracking devices are willingly carried by most of us. Sadly, it's no surprise that authorities and governmental bodies would want to use these for other purposes, or that they do.
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earthlingerer10 months, 3 weeks ago
"Government and police don't need chips to track our movements. Every cellphone has a GPS signal that goes out whenever the phone is turned on or off. Fairly accurate, so they say. They caught a murderer in New York City that way last year."
Umm, ever thought about turning OFF that GPRS selection on your phone? I did. I also use an anonymous SIM card from a local carrier.
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AmericanIdiot10 months, 3 weeks ago
Murder solved using cellphone records as forensic evidence:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/nyregion/24de...
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AmericanIdiot10 months, 3 weeks ago
The physical evidence was bolstered, Mr. Kelly said, by electronic information from cellphone records and by a witness who said he saw a van matching the description of the one used by Mr. Littlejohn making a U-turn at the place Ms. St. Guillen's body was left, about an hour before police found her there.
Around the same time, he said, someone placed a call from nearby with Mr. Littlejohn's cellphone. Ms. St. Guillen's phone had been turned off around the time of the crime, Mr. Kelly said.
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AmericanIdiot10 months, 3 weeks ago
HOUSE STANDS BY PATRIOT ACT, BARELY
Efforts to overturn portions of the USA PATRIOT Act were rejected by
the U.S. House of Representatives this week, as lawmakers responded to
a veto threat from the White House. One portion of the PATRIOT Act
lowers the bar for federal officials to obtain records from libraries
and book stores about the habits of their patrons. Civil libertarians
and many in Congress have taken issue with those powers of the law,
calling them unconstitutional, and Reps. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and
C.L. Butch Otter (R-Idaho) had led the push to repeal those powers.
Even without the PATRIOT Act, said critics, investigators can obtain
similar records from libraries or book stores if probable cause is
shown.
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AmericanIdiot10 months, 3 weeks ago
The PATRIOT Act allows the government to force disclosure of
records without showing such cause. The effort to block that portion of
the law appeared to have the majority support needed to pass, but 10
Republican lawmakers were persuaded to change their minds, resulting in
a vote of 210-210.
Wired News, 8 July 2004
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64144...
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saintetienne10 months, 3 weeks ago
"First it was just the 'terrorists' who's rights we took away. Now its petty crimes, drug users and dealers, and as the article mentions, pretty much anyone they please with or without probable cause."
Yes, aidenag, I agree. We wouldn't want to strip drug traffikers, fugitives, criminal suspects and illegal immigrants of their God-given right to break laws, kill people and take advantage of all of the rights and benefits afforded to the hard-working, law-abiding taxpayer.
This federal practice is a travesty! Guarantee laws, rights and priviliges to the criminal element, I say! Let them run wild and do whatever they want, without pesky government interference or cell-phone tracking, I say! They should be allowed to break laws, demean society and harm people without having their rights violated, I say!
You Liberals are nuttier than a fruitcake.
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mntnman44410 months, 3 weeks ago
And you cowards who are hiding under your beds and willing to give up everyones rights are more dangerous than the terrorists you're hiding from.
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tanglang10 months, 3 weeks ago
You say that we are the ones who are scared, but in fact we are just doing what is necessary to stop crime. You are the ones who are scared. On top of that you're parnoid. In 2003 there were 159 million cell phones used in the US. I can promise you that the government does not have the capability to tap all of your phones. Stop being p-noid, pop a xanax and relax. There is no government plot against you.
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Beau789010 months, 3 weeks ago
When they come for you, saintetienne, anyone who might have wanted to protect you will all be gone, laughed at by others like you.
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earthlingerer10 months, 3 weeks ago
Saintetienne, it seems that RFID cards linked to your credit card corroborated with with your cell phone locator indicates you've been buying "man-strength" condoms.
Are you with us, or with them??? Regardless, we'll paint you the way WE IN CHARGE want.
You pot smoking, bum sex, alcoholic... unless you do as we invent. Don't even think... that's a thought-crime.
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DanmLiberals10 months, 3 weeks ago
If I was the FBI the first phones I would tap would be Liberals judging from the things you guys say about this country and the way you stick up for terrorists. If anyone hates this country, it's Libs..
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