FCC Investigating LocationSmart Over Phone-Tracking Flaw (cnet.com) 19
The FCC has opened an investigation into LocationSmart, a company that is buying your real-time location data from four of the largest U.S. carriers in the United States. The investigation comes a day after a security researcher from Carnegie Mellon University exposed a vulnerability on LocationSmart's website. CNET reports: The bug has prompted an investigation from the FCC, the agency said on Friday. An FCC spokesman said LocationSmart's case was being handled by its Enforcement Bureau. Since The New York Times revealed that Securus, an inmate call tracking service, had offered the same tracking service last week, Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, called for the FCC and major wireless carriers to investigate these companies. On Friday, Wyden praised the investigation, but requested the FCC to expand its look beyond LocationSmart.
"The negligent attitude toward Americans' security and privacy by wireless carriers and intermediaries puts every American at risk," Wyden said. "I urge the FCC expand the scope of this investigation, and to more broadly probe the practice of third parties buying real-time location data on Americans." He is also calling for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to recuse himself from the investigation, because Pai was a former attorney for Securus.
"The negligent attitude toward Americans' security and privacy by wireless carriers and intermediaries puts every American at risk," Wyden said. "I urge the FCC expand the scope of this investigation, and to more broadly probe the practice of third parties buying real-time location data on Americans." He is also calling for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to recuse himself from the investigation, because Pai was a former attorney for Securus.
Re: (Score:2)
When all of your regulatory agencies are populated by ex-corporate executives, lobbyists and a crowd of bootlickers begging to be hired on by said companies at 4x their current pay [wikipedia.org] more laws aren't going to do anything other than blacklisting whoever votes to enact them.
Give the senators some common man privacy (Score:3, Insightful)
Someone should purchase senators' location data history and make a nice interactive map where one can see senators' whereabouts. Give some taste of the "privacy" a regular citizen enjoys.
THough I'm sure this kind of activity would be illegal where as selling normal person's location data is just fine.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
they want it (Score:4, Insightful)
Pfffff . . . . let's be honest here (Score:2)
The ONLY reason this is getting so much attention is due to the fact that everyone, INCLUDING all of our self-proclaimed important Congress critters, can be tracked just about anywhere they go without their knowledge.
Nothing pisses off the Royalty more-so than being treated just like the peasants.