Feds Have Access To Cellphone Tracking On Request

Mike writes "According to a Washington Post article, federal officials are routinely asking and getting courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data on subscribers. The data is used to pinpoint the whereabouts of 'criminal suspects', according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without even requiring the government to demonstrate probable cause 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.'"

Another Reason

[ewhenn]

Another reason I prefer not to own a cell phone. Modern ones all have at least rudimentary location tracking built in. With the way the US Govt. abuses powers it shouldn't have, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that they will try to exploit it so they can track people "in need of public safety"... because we all know how the average American (and yes, I'm an American citizen, so I'm bashing my own country, not yours) will roll over and play dead anytime the Govt. pulls out the safety card. It's pathetic.

Re:Can we just have a revolution and get it over w

[Anonymous Coward]

It's alarming that so many people are so docile.

What did you do about it today?

Re:so they can protect you

[nametaken]

I'm normally the first to whine, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Judges are required. Isn't that how we want surveillance to work?

Re:Listen up

[wordsnyc]

There is an element of truth to this. The practical effect of this is to spread fear and apprehension among "innocent nobodies" who happen to be paying attention. The myth of government omniscience (and, by extension, omnipotence) is a powerful tool of preemptive social control.

It's like torture. Newsflash: the people who torture know it doesn't really "work" on (i.e., produce valuable information from) the victims. It's a form of state terrorism -- it works best on the rest of us.

About time

[VonSkippy]

Good. It's about time they weed out the criminally stupid.

What moron doesn't know they can buy a throw away cell from Walmarts for cash?

If you're dumb enough to be a crook AND use a traceable (i.e. contracted) cell phone you deserve what you get.

Re:This just in

[garbletext]

Tinfoil hats are for conspiracy theorists. When your fears of an abusive government prove to be true, you're a liberal.

Re:Another Reason

[Frosty Piss]

Another reason I prefer not to own a cell phone. Modern ones all have at least rudimentary location tracking built in.

On my phone (a Motorola Razr V3 serviced by Verizon), tracking can be turned on or off. For me, I leave it on so that when I'm out and about on country roads and Forest Service roads, which I am a lot, they can find me when I call 911.

But I wonder, can "they" track me even when I turn the "feature" off? Maybe "they" see through the little camera on the phone? Can "they" hear waht I'm saying even when the phone is "closed"?

Anyway, I'm off to the store to buy more aluminum foil (with cash in coin form, of course)...

Re:Wow

[m2943]

And you seriously think this is different anywhere else? Western European nations, for example, were routinely tapping phone conversations of their own citizens behind the iron curtain, without probable cause or any other justification and nobody even raised much of an eyebrow about it. In the US, people at least make a fuss about it.

what I really wish...

[spacefem]

I feel like privacy issues are incredibly important... and that I'm the only one who feels this way. Well, me and my friends who read slashdot. And the four libertarians I know.

The government only does this stuff because they feel like they can get away with it, that's what kills me.

Re:Can we just have an election and get it over wi

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

When will there be a tipping point where Joe Apathetic says "enough!" and takes to the streets?

It'll probably be when the most important parts of running a country are seriously neglected, when people are no longer comfortable and happy. When people feel that the mountainous benefits of living in the US aren't enough. Then they'll take to the streets, and by god, there will be an election like none other for hundreds of years.

Re:The truth comes out.

[arivanov]

It does not on GSM (dunno about American specific tech).

GSM needs to keep track of phone locations very precisely because the primary means of synchronising the phone to the network is by altering the timing advance which tells the phone when to start transmitting.

3G is nowhere near to GSM in terms of location precision. In uses reflected signals in a positive feedback filter to improve the phone signal to noise ratio. If you look at the data before the filter you cannot make sense of it (it is combined with the rest of signal processing). If you look at the data after the filter you no longer have a true measurement of the signal produced by the phone. You have a measurement of a function of that signal combined with all reflections. As a result you no longer have the same precision on the measurement of time between the phone and the radio access network as in GSM. From there on you can no longer determine the phone locations as precisely.

So I would not be surprised that the drive to bundle GPS in newer phones has something to do with it. For the older ones (especially GSM) it was totally unnecessary. You could get their location down to a meter in some places.

Re:This just in

[anagama]

When your fears of an abusive government prove to be true, you're a liberal.

Or a conservative constitutional scholar.
http://www.americanfreedomagenda.org/ [americanfr...agenda.org]

Judges should demand a modicum of evidence

[davidwr]

A rubber-stamp judge slows things down for no useful purpose. You might as well just let the FBI write their own warrants.

A real judge that does his job will slow things down to make sure only people who really should be under surveillance are put under surveillance.

Re:Another Reason

[MacDork]

life is good. I have nothing to hide, and I, for one, am glad to see our law enforcement doing everything they can to keep our American lifestyle safe and secure from terrorism. Don't like it? leave.

If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.--big fat American patriot, Samuel Adams