Posted on 11/24/2007 7:37:46 AM PST by Kay Ludlow
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...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
This article, though, suggests that there are judges out there routinely allowing the use of cell-phone technology, e-911, etc by law enforcement agencies based on little more than a statement that it's needed for an ongoing investigation. Then there's this judge, allowing cellphone location tracking "in December 2005, Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein of the Southern District of New York, approving a request for cell-site data, wrote that because the government did not install the "tracking device" and the user chose to carry the phone and permit transmission of its information to a carrier, no warrant was needed.".
I've long believed that the 911 system was being sold to us as a safety issue, to allow fire departments and ambulances to find us in an emergency, but was really designed to serve the agenda of those who believe that government is more efficient when it knows who everyone is, where they live, what they're doing, etc. As a conservative leaning libertarian (but not a Ron Paul supporter), I really don't think it's any of the government's business where I live, where I drive, what I buy or who I know. If there is some sign I'm committing a serious crime, I understand how those tools help, but just to build a database and profiles of all individuals (which is the direction all this stuff is going) is seriously at odds with the concept of a free people, living their lives with little interference from the 'king'.
Now we all get 'em.
This chapter in history might be called, "The Nightmare that Orwell Never Had."
At least we no longer have a big crowd here saying, “...but President Bush said that this is okay, so it’s okay....”
Still, I fear most people, FReepers included, will ignore this threat.
I wonder how they’ll like it when Hillary can gather all this information and spy on people so easily.
I will never buy "Easy Pass" or "OnStar" because they are just one more tool for the nanny state to track our every move.
Every time you swipe your ATM card, ID card, or whatever, you've left your electronic fingerprint somewhere. You "voluntarily" do so (I mean, you could quit your job in order to avoid swiping the id...) -- so, under the presumption of Omnipotence, that "fingerprint" is available to the information gatherer to use as he pleases, including to mark you like cattle.
For twenty years I've waited for someone with a backbone to come along and challenge the use of people's personal information on the grounds that is proprietary, and no one ever has. Perhaps I should have gone to law school.
What does Austin think about this invasion of his privacy?
Most cell phones have a GPS built in. The devices ping the towers every five (?) minutes or so. The cell phone towers have logs...
Hmmm.
Oh come on people,I work for a wireless company and we get several court orders, but rarely and I mean rarely do we get an order to track a phone, usually it is because of a kidnapping or when someone’s life is in danger.... All of the orders have to go through OUR legal dept too. So it’s not like they can just call us and we give them information....You people watch too much TV....
I don’t agree with having Americans wear government tracking devices, or the government turning cell phones into tracking devices.
Not when the phone is off...
Remove the battery. Problem solved.
Are you saying that if a law enforcement agency came to you with a warrant signed by a judge, your legal department would review the case as well and refuse if they disagreed with the judges decision? Hmmm.
I really don't have a problem with it when someone's life is in danger. The point of the article though is that some judges apparently feel this type of surveillance on citizens is appropriate under any circumstances, and don't really require much more than a statement saying 'I think it's necessary' from the law enforcement officer to sign off on the warrant. It's a slippery slope though... today it's only when someone is kidnapped or in danger; tomorrow it's when someone's missing but you don't know if they are in danger; after that it's required during certain activities (say hiking or driving) for safety (so you can be found faster when lost, or slowed down when speeding) and in 30 years everyone could be required to have a functioning tracking device all the time. Remember when Social Security numbers were only for people who were working and paying into Social Security? They were never going to be used as any kind of national ID, that you'd need to get a driver's license, or to open a bank account. That only took 60-70 years to evolve...
The smart man could certainly use this to his advantage by engineering a false alibi related to cell-phone location and time....
Cell phones are tiny...carrying 2 would not be a problem...and when an alibi was needed then leave the one being tracked at home, or wherever, and use a throw away temporarily.
Right - but they can’t use the tracking to find someone who is trapped in their car for a week or some kid who was kidnapped and is in the trunk of a car trying to get help .... but we >do< have to get those drug dealers, etc .....
For 25 years+ markerters have been trafficking in all sorts of private information (including SSNs) about citizens.
I refuse to get a cellphone. And this only serves as further justification.
Those who want to live in The Village and be assigned a number and questioned periodically by No.2 can go right ahead.
Digital cable television will afford the nosey even more information about your viewing habits, politics, lifestyle, persona, etc. Targeted ads (like popups and spam) can be programmed for individual households.
Wonder when we will need licenses to get on the internet superhighway...
50 years ago someone would say that you watch too much Capt. Video if you said that you sold wireless phones that could pinpoint the location of the caller.
Interesting to see what government sees as a worthwhile use of this technology and what they don't, isn't it? It's all about power and money. Government today has too much power and money, and until we manage to cut that off I don't see things improving too much.
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