Police Don't Need a Warrant To Track Your Disposable Cellphone 312
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the time-to-pitch-that-burner dept.
from the time-to-pitch-that-burner dept.
New submitter Blindman writes "The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that it is okay for police to track your cellphone signal without a warrant. Using information about the cell tower that a prepaid cell phone was connected to, the police were able to track a suspected drug smuggler. Apparently, keeping your cellphone on is authorization for the police to know where you are. According to the ruling (PDF), '[The defendant] did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data emanating from his cell phone that showed its location.' Also, 'if a tool used to transport contraband gives off a signal that can be tracked for location, certainly the police can track the signal.'"
Re:Look at it this way... (Score:4, Informative)
There is a HUGE difference. If they ask the people, they must be there in time. The memory of is not perfect and especially a long time after a specific moment people will not remember, unless there is a very specific reason for it.
And this is not just when there is a noise, it about being able to have a person following you all the time and keeping minute details of what you are doing, including your time at home.
I would say that there is a HUGE difference.
Remember the freedom you were defending by helping out Europe a few years back? Perhaps it is time to return the favour and kick out YOUR evil government. (Yeah, I am aware of Godwin)
Re:So it begins (Score:4, Informative)
They turn off the phone? Or just switch it to "Airplane Mode"?
And please don't say 'but it could still be transmitting!' We have these amazing gizmos called 'antennas' that can—I am told—detect radio transmissions. Transmitting also takes power. If smartphones really kept transmitting while off or in air mode, (a) the battery would drain relatively quickly even when the phone is off, (b) some paranoiac with a microwave receiver would have already discovered the unauthorized transmissions, and (c) the FAA (among other groups) would be all over the manufacturer.
Oh, but I forget: TV provides irrefutable evidence 'they' can track phones which are turned off; at least, when 'they' are not too busy uncropping photos and tracking your IP with a GUI interface made in Visual Basic.