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Can the FBI Secretly Track Your Cell Phone?
newsweek.com ^ | Feb. 10, 2010 | Michael Isikoff

Posted on 02/11/2010 11:08:16 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY

The Justice Department is poised this week to publicly defend a little-known law-enforcement practice that critics say may be the "sleeper" privacy issue of the 21st century: the collection of cell-phone "tracking" records that identify the physical locations where the phones have been.

It may come as a surprise to most of the owners of the country's 277 million cell phones, but their cell-phone company retains records of where their device has been at all times—either because the phones have tiny GPS devices embedded inside or because each phone call is routed through towers that can be used to pinpoint the phones' location to within areas as small as a few hundred feet.

Such location "logs" never show up on your monthly cell-phone bill. But federal court records filed over the past year indicate that federal prosecutors and the FBI have increasingly been obtaining such records in the course of criminal investigations—without any notice to the cell-phone customer or any showing of "probable cause" that tracking the physical location of the phone will turn up evidence of an actual crime.

"Most people don't understand they are carrying a tracking device in their pockets," says Kevin Bankston, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy group that has been trying to monitor the Justice Department's practice.

Much about the practice—including how many "tracking" records have been collected by the government—remains shrouded in secrecy. But in one court case in which the use of such records arose, a Philadelphia FBI agent named William Shute testified that he had obtained such records 150 times in recent years in order to track the location of federal fugitives.

(Excerpt) Read more at blog.newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: bhodoj; bigbrother; cellphone; cellphones; counterterrorism; cultureofcorruption; fbi; isikoff; lping; newsweak; obamalegacy; telecom
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To: Free ThinkerNY

I don’t care, unless it has something to do with that annoying helicopter that keeps hovering over my house. Otherwise, the FBI, phone company, CIA, NAACP can monitor away. I can see why others might be concerned.


41 posted on 02/11/2010 11:45:34 AM PST by pallis
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To: muawiyah

Nobody cares until they have a criminal case to prove and happen to have information that you were in the area.

They whole idea that you will give up your liberty when our govt is being pushed into communism is sad.


42 posted on 02/11/2010 11:49:54 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver
Your phone is tracking you all the time.

I want to get into some of the technical aspects of this issue.

There are two services that a smart phone has that are part of the phone's OS and are accessible to the user on a Blackberry.

There is the GPS chip that actually does the work, and there is a service that turns the chip on or off, or controls when and where the chip is needed. You can turn off the GPS, but without disabling the program service, different apps can turn it on for you. If you disable both the chip and the service, the chip will not turn on with one exception and this is the 911 call. The government demanded that this system work and it cannot be turned off however it only works if 911 is called. That action bypasses any settings and the service turns the chip on so that the 911 operator can locate the phone.

The only other way to locate you and it would not be very accurate, would be to know about where you are so the cell tower could be located. The phone could be pinged and the reply ping could be triangulated. This is done often enough, but you must know the general vicinity first.

As to the GPS, that baby ain't turning on unless I tell it too. I have both the GPS and the service that controls it turned off. The only way it turns on is to physically dial 911.

43 posted on 02/11/2010 11:52:52 AM PST by Cold Heat
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To: EdReform; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
View past Libertarian pings here
44 posted on 02/11/2010 11:53:22 AM PST by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

btt


45 posted on 02/11/2010 11:54:04 AM PST by GailA (obamacare paid for by cuts & taxes on most vulnerable Veterans, disabled,seniors & retired Military)
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To: Cold Heat

Or to have a call made to your phone that would initiate the 911 calling procedure.


46 posted on 02/11/2010 11:56:51 AM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
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To: Cold Heat

the govt goes to the effort to force cell phone manufacturers to install GPS and then allows them to put an off switch in? got any bridges for sale?


47 posted on 02/11/2010 11:57:11 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: 9422WMR
The GPS on some phones can be accessed when off. There are lists on web sites that are updated frequently.

OnStar can access unless the battery is disconnected or you had the unit removed.

48 posted on 02/11/2010 11:59:30 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (usff.com)
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To: Little Ray
What they look for is a break in routine. Routines are bad from an investigative point of view.
49 posted on 02/11/2010 12:00:51 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ (usff.com)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Someone thinks this is news? Even if your phone doesn’t have GPS, your phone can be tracked, although with a lower level of accuracy.


50 posted on 02/11/2010 12:03:07 PM PST by Cymbaline (Bipartisan consensus - that's like when my doctor and my lawyer agree with my wife that I need help.)
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To: stuartcr
I mentioned that in my first post, but nobody seems to know if that could be done. It would require a phone hack, I suppose. I don't how that is done unless you plant a worm in it or be within range to do a hack wirelessly and be able to take control of it.
51 posted on 02/11/2010 12:06:18 PM PST by Cold Heat
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To: Cold Heat

I’m not saying the NSA can do that or not, or that all it would require is a call to your phone and some code sent.


52 posted on 02/11/2010 12:08:48 PM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
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Cell phones are the worst nightmare for those concerned about their privacy. They are essentially bugs carried around by individuals often 24/7. Most come with a video feed as well. It is only software that prevents anyone from listening into your private conversations even when not using the phone.


53 posted on 02/11/2010 12:10:33 PM PST by TheDon
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To: Free ThinkerNY

If you’re really worried about having your whereabouts tracked, keep it turned off except to use it.


54 posted on 02/11/2010 12:15:04 PM PST by G Larry (DNC is comprised of REGRESSIVES!)
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To: Free ThinkerNY

Sure they got us. Phone records, credit/debit cards, internet pecker tracks, etc. etc. And this info is being ‘grinded’ nonstop by FBI, NSA software scanning for patterns: ‘hot’ words, clusters, proximity, drug spots, weapons, political statements...
And certain entities bubble to the top and get extra cycles allocated to them. Get on the sh%t list.
It’s all over, my friends. We are all guilty. It is just a matter of semantics.
However, Are they gonna lock all 20 million of us up?


55 posted on 02/11/2010 12:16:08 PM PST by olepap (God help us)
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To: driftdiver
I am not going to belabor this point. Buy a Blackberry or check with your carrier. Some of the bozos do know something about the phones they sell, but not many. The blackberry actually asks you if you want it disabled. But to do it right, you also need to disable the part of the Phones OS that turns it on when you buy a application that requires it. With both off, like I said, the only way it turns on is to send a 911 call.

I suppose that code could be put into a worm via e-mail, concealed in a hidden application or such, but I totally wipe (reformat) the memory on mine at least twice a year and then rebuild the apps. I do much the same on my computers after making sure all my data is clean and saved.

Just for your info, I am cautious because I have been computer hacked before and they got my personal e-mails and bank info from my desktop. They did it on a private wireless network through a game port that had been opened to the Internet to aid the game. I have firewalls, but if a port is open, it's open.

I learned my lesson. I am locked up tight.

56 posted on 02/11/2010 12:18:58 PM PST by Cold Heat
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To: olepap

Self, it is not necessary to lock up 20 million. 100 thousand would be enough to terrify the rest into submission!


57 posted on 02/11/2010 12:19:08 PM PST by olepap (God help us)
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To: 9422WMR

Kaplan’s opinion said that the eavesdropping technique “functioned whether the phone was powered on or off.” Some handsets can’t be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance,

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html


58 posted on 02/11/2010 12:35:45 PM PST by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
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To: muawiyah
Biggest problem I recall finding back during the development phase was that a large percentage of the people had no idea where they were going next. They were just out kind of wandering around and stopped by the post office.

Ha ha ha! That's what they told you. It was just a polite way of saying "none of your business!"
59 posted on 02/11/2010 12:45:34 PM PST by fr_freak
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To: 9422WMR
Does this work if the phone is off?

Yes.

60 posted on 02/11/2010 12:46:02 PM PST by MosesKnows (Love many, Trust few, and always paddle your own canoe)
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