Speculation On Large-Scale Phone Location Snooping 234
An anonymous reader recommends a speculative blog entry by Chris Soghoian up on CNet. Soghoian makes a convincing case that the NSA could be using loopholes in the law to gather real-time location information on the mobile phones of millions of people. There is no hard evidence that this is happening, but the blog post sheds light on the dense undergrowth of companies populating the wireless space that could be easy pickings for a National Security Letter with a gag order attached. "While these household names of the telecom industry [AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint] almost certainly helped the government to illegally snoop on their customers, statements by a number of legal experts suggest that collaboration with the NSA may run far deeper into the wireless phone industry. With over 3,000 wireless companies operating in the United States, the majority of industry-aided snooping likely occurs under the radar, with the dirty work being handled by companies that most consumers have never heard of."
No Such Company. (Score:3, Funny)
"with the dirty work being handled by companies that most consumers have never heard of."
That would be the NSC.
This is why I keep my phone powered off.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:All I can say... (Score:2, Funny)
this led to a rather embarrassing situation at the hospital when i couldn't tell the nurse what number to dial to reach my girlfriend.
Did you have clean underwear on at least?
Wife (Score:5, Funny)
Are they hiring? (Score:3, Funny)
I'm absolutely against this sort of terrible thing, but, um... it is the kind of contract with more immunity to outsourcing.
My Solution (Score:2, Funny)
Thanks, Apple! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is why I keep my phone powered off.... (Score:3, Funny)
...and patriotically proclaim "Heil Bush!" at the end of every call.
funny little story (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Loopholes? (Score:4, Funny)
As a guess, the government can also legally track you without a warrant (given sufficient interest and effort) using an RFID chip in one of your credit cards.
Pray tell, how can you track someone using a device that requires radiated energy from a transmitter no more than 5 feet away? Wouldn't the spook with the fedora and trenchcoat following you around with an RFID receiver pointed at your ass kind of be a giveaway?
Re:siiiiigh, no... (Score:3, Funny)
everything that goes in, stays in, so that it can't be used to bring something out.
what about clothes?
oh, and for that matter, what about your ass?
Re:All I can say... (Score:3, Funny)
My favourite way to rebut the "if you have nothing to hide crowd":
If you have nothing to hide, why do you have a door on your bathroom?