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Government Privacy United States

Parler Users Breached Deep Inside US Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows (gizmodo.com) 271

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington. The data, obtained by a computer hacker through legal means ahead of Parler's shutdown on Monday, offers a bird's eye view of its users swarming the Capitol grounds after receiving encouragement from President Trump -- and during a violent breach that sent lawmakers and Capitol Hill visitors scrambling amid gunshots and calls for their death. GPS coordinates taken from 618 Parler videos analyzed by Gizmodo has already been sought after by FBI as part of a sweeping nationwide search for potential suspects, at least 20 of whom are already in custody.

Gizmodo has mapped nearly 70,000 geo-located Parler posts and on Tuesday isolated hundreds published on January 6 near the Capitol where a mob of pro-Trump supporters had hoped to overturn a democratic election and keep their president in power. The data shows Parler users posting all throughout the day, documenting their march from the National Mall to Capitol Hill where the violent insurrection ensued. The precise locations of Parler users inside the building can be difficult to place. The coordinates do not reveal which floors they are on, for instance. Moreover, the data only includes Parler users who posted videos taken on January 6. And the coordinates themselves are only accurate up to an approximate distance of 12 yards (11 meters).

The red dot just south of the Capitol Rotunda's center on the map above is linked to a video Gizmodo verified that shows rioters in red MAGA hats shouting obscenities about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose office is a short walk to the west. But other dots nearby could indicate videos captured in adjacent offices, stairwells, or hallways leading toward the House and Senate chambers. A second video successfully linked to the Parler data belongs to a rioter who filmed a mob in the Rotunda chanting, "Whose House? Our House?" (while facing the Senate side of the building). Other coordinates pulled from Parler point to users roaming the north side of the building near the Senate chamber, either near leadership offices or the press gallery, depending on which floor they were on. Other location data from outside the Capitol follows the precise route the crowd took from the National Mall shortly after a speech by President Trump...

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Parler Users Breached Deep Inside US Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows

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  • For as accurate (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OverlordQ ( 264228 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:07PM (#60935566) Journal

    as GPS can be inside a stone and steel multistory building.

    • Re:For as accurate (Score:5, Informative)

      by chill ( 34294 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:13PM (#60935592) Journal

      True, but for actual law enforcement with access to the cell location data, it is a different story.

      The Capitol is, as you point out, stone and steel, and pretty much a labyrinth of tunnels, hallways, and offices. As such, it is riddled with micro-cells for mobile connections. Unlike the outside world where you have a wide area you could be in when your phone connects to a tower, in there they can get very precise location data because the coverage areas are so small.

      Everyone with cell phones and recording video? They can all be mapped pretty much step-by-step inside that building just by cell data. Combine that with the various surveillance cameras inside the building and I think they're going to be able to approach 100% identification.

      • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        Or, the video itself would be pretty good proof that they where there, hopefully they took selfies too.

        • Or, the video itself would be pretty good proof that they where there, hopefully they took selfies too.

          The combination of all three will be pretty darn good evidence for the upcoming trials.

        • "Or, the video itself would be pretty good proof that they where there, hopefully they took selfies too."

          No need, they filmed each other.

      • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:38PM (#60935704)

        The Capitol is, as you point out, stone and steel, and pretty much a labyrinth of tunnels, hallways, and offices.

        At the center is an hidden, also inaccessible room, containing an Easter Egg [wikipedia.org] -- that also gives you majority shareholder control over The Oasis [fandom.com]. Fortunately, the insurrectionists failed to find it.

        [ Jesus, that's actually closer to reality than the joke I intended it to be. ]

        • by chill ( 34294 )

          I thought that was moved to Saudi Arabia [hugelolcdn.com] for safe keeping?

        • I think that is where they constructed the marble obelisk. The pope stone was damaged by the know-nothings and so the device never did properly lift off the socket so it was moved by freemason orogenes to the current location just over a mile to the west.
      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Even outside, it is pretty precise in smaller cells, because cells automatically triangulate you for automated hand-over to other cells.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Even without cell data it may be more accurate than expected inside buildings because all phones use augmentation via wifi and Bluetooth. They look up visible wifi networks in a database and listen for Bluetooth beacons.

        It actually works reasonably well for navigating indoors sometimes.

      • DC is one of the most heavily surveilled cities on the planet. Assuming we don't let them off with a slap on the wrist because their white and Republican (I'm through pretending that's not a factor anymore, deal with it) these people are screwed. They fucked around and they're about to find out.
    • Re:For as accurate (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:31PM (#60935668)

      What about this part?

      > The data, obtained by a computer hacker through legal means ahead of Parler's shutdown on Monday

      Parler's 2FA was shut down, so they reset the passwords on admin accounts and used them to exfiltrate the data. That's hardly "legal means" and I thought you guys had a strong policy against using hacked materials now, so what gives?

      This is one hell of a fig leaf. But yeah, I'm sure that Biden's biggest priority would be prosecuting this guy under the CFAA so I'm sure he'll get away when someone like Aaron Schwartz got driven to suicide for less...

      • Re:For as accurate (Score:5, Informative)

        by wosmo ( 854535 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @08:29PM (#60935864)

        Most of the exfiltration was a bog-standard enumeration vulnerability. Items were sequentially addressed and vulnerable to insecure direct object reference, so the bulk of the "attack" boiled down to getting multiple users to coordinate their wget to retrieve as much as possible before AWS closed the door.

        The attack on accounts/access was largely unrelated to the bulk exfiltration.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        What about the part where it's suddenly bad for data from morally questionable means being used?

        Hillary's emails were fine.

        The DNC hack was fine.

        Hunter Biden's laptop was fine.

        But this Parler thing, which was an actual and direct attack on US democracy, with people that were killed, is morally evil for some reason?

        Fucking hypocrites calling others hypocrites when they're the hypocrites of the highest caliber themselves.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          A lot of the data was scraped right off the Parler website because the amateurs who coded it didn't bother to strip metadata from images and videos people were posting, meaning they contained location information embedded by the phone.

          Literally all you needed to do was save an image you saw on Parler and look at the metadata in the JPEG.

      • by sphealey ( 2855 )

        Let us introduce the seditionists to a legal concept known as "parallel construction". Usually the 1st step is performed by a TLA, not crowdsoiurced, but you go with the Constitutional workarounds you have.

    • ...a stone and steel multistory building with a very beefed up cellular network, augmented by wifi with triangulation/location capabilities and logging (which means they can easily track those rioters with cell phones regardless of their posting, as long as it was on).

      Then again, we could say "wake up sheeple" and again question whether jet fuel can melt steel, too.

      I'm sure your intention was not to stir up the more conspiracy minded, but if it was, your username checks out, I guess?

      • Re:For as accurate (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Bert64 ( 520050 ) <.moc.eeznerif.todhsals. .ta. .treb.> on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @10:13PM (#60936130) Homepage

        The operators of the network and the FBI can, but this discussion was about geolocation data tagged to posts in Parler, which is based on publicly available GPS data accessed by the devices that made the photos/videos.
        The location data from the internal networks is not publicly available, and won't have been available to the devices taking videos.

        Also, anyone who knowingly committed a crime (which they did as soon as they set foot inside the building) would be a complete moron to be carrying an active cellphone while doing so. Many of them were even too stupid to try and cover their faces, despite it being obvious to anyone that there would be a large amount of CCTV deployed inside the building, not to mention news crews and other random people with cameras.

        In the current climate, wearing a mask no longer makes you stand out as suspicious.

        • by Kernel Kurtz ( 182424 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @11:14PM (#60936304)

          In the current climate, wearing a mask no longer makes you stand out as suspicious.

          Among other Parler users it may.

        • Your phone (or at least any modern one) hasn't used GPS as the sole source of Location data in years. It also factors in both the Russian and EU variant of GPS, WiFi signals in the area and even which towers you are connecting to. It's all mapped out - why do you think Google vans were collecting SSIDs a decade ago?

          • by necro81 ( 917438 )

            Your phone (or at least any modern one) hasn't used GPS as the sole source of Location data in years. It also factors in both the Russian and EU variant of GPS, WiFi signals in the area and even which towers you are connecting to. It's all mapped out - why do you think Google vans were collecting SSIDs a decade ago?

            The parent's earlier point - about being a moron to carry an active cellphone into the Capitol while storming it - still stands. It's a pretty moronic thing to have done. The self-incriminati

        • Also, anyone who knowingly committed a crime (which they did as soon as they set foot inside the building) would be a complete moron to be carrying an active cellphone while doing so.

          So you're saying everyone was carrying an active cellphone? I mean the Venn diagram of complete morons and and the people who stormed the capital thinking that they were going to overturn an election in the USA is pretty much a 100% overlap.

    • no signal is not the same as inaccurate data.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      as GPS can be inside a stone and steel multistory building.

      It doesn't need to be accurate enough beyond a reasonable doubt.

      It just needs to be accurate enough for probable cause. Then the Feds can get a search warrant to seize the phone and subpoena videos, photos, texts, and emails.

      The wheels of justice will turn slowly but inexorably.

      In hindsight, perhaps Parler should have supported BLM when they wanted to defund the police.

    • Re:For as accurate (Score:5, Insightful)

      by doragasu ( 2717547 ) on Wednesday January 13, 2021 @02:26AM (#60936672)

      Today, when people say things like "GPS data", they mean "location data". And today, location data does not come only from GPS, it also comes from cell towers and WiFi spots. With enough of these, location data can be pretty accurate even inside buildings.

    • Cell phones have used GPS combined with WiFi hotspots for years to combat this problem. It's highly likely that the wifi hotspots of the capital were all well mapped and served to enhance the GPS. "GPS" on your phone is also is enhanced by determining which cell towers are being pinged. It's also quite likely that the Capital had cell repeaters strewn throughout - a modestly sized hotel constructed out of similarly blocking materials will have minicells in most conference rooms.

  • GPS co-ordinates tend to have a low reliability, especially when indoors. The actual phone location can be many metres or even tens of metres away. It's doubtful that GPS co-cordinates alone could be used to prove guilt in a court.
    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      Yeah, if only they hadn't, you know, literally mugged for multiple videos and photos. Every one of the people who went inside the capitol is on video or in a photo.
    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      GPS coordinates are not that bad if you have a set of them and can average. That is a scientifically sound approach. Also, you can only move a certain way if walls are in the way. That allows reconstruction of movement paths. To top this off, the Capitol has its own internal mobile network and at that size you get nicely precise triangulation and solid proof people were inside. Which they are not allowed to be. That alone is already a crime.

  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:10PM (#60935576)
    along with some of the *chans and *kuns. That's why everybody pulled back from Parler even though they've got the backing of the Mercer family. It's going to come out more and more, and it's a) going to be brand poison and b) they just f***ed with the United States Security Infrastructure. The CIAs and FBIs and what not.

    I mean, if you don't think there were some spies mixed in with those insurrectionists then you're so naive I don't know what to tell you.

    Oh, and the terrorists were way, way more organized and well trained than they should've been. They set pipe bombs well away from the Capital Building. That was to draw the already limited police manpower away. It shows a level of sophistication we should be terrified of.
    • Oh, and the terrorists were way, way more organized and well trained than they should've been. They set pipe bombs well away from the Capital Building. That was to draw the already limited police manpower away. It shows a level of sophistication we should be terrified of.

      Are you saying, heaven forbid, they were trained together by some kind of shadowy Umbrella group? That there is a secret Corporation holding it all together? Stars...and where did the virus come from...it's all starting to make sense!

  • by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:16PM (#60935600)

    A few lawmakers are questioning if the terrorists had inside help, either from some of the capitol police or closely held information from those in the know [politico.com]. For example:

    House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) mentioned that looters had found their way to his unmarked, third floor office and stole his iPad. He questioned how they could locate that office but not his clearly marked ceremonial office in Statuary Hall. Later, another Democrat on the call, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) specifically raised the question of possible collusion among some Capitol Police officers, according to several people listening.

    And this:

    “Somebody must get to the bottom of how they, with such efficiency and such alacrity, moved themselves in mobs into [Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s] office. Into the whip’s third-floor office,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), one of the dozen or so Democrats who was locked inside the House chamber as rioters attempted to break in.

    “We all joke about the fact that it's so hard to find some of these offices, and we work in the building,” Dean said in an interview.

    One of the pro-Trump rioters told The New York Times that a Capitol Police officer directed them to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by bloodhawk ( 813939 )
      geez I don't know, maybe they looked up the freely available office map information? Or perhaps he wasn't specifically targeted at all given they went into a lot of offices.
      • maybe they looked up the freely available office map information?

        I know RTFA is a lost cause, and that even RTFS is too much for most people. But can you at least RTFC that you are responding to:

        looters had found their way to his unmarked, third floor office and stole his iPad. He questioned how they could locate that office but not his clearly marked ceremonial office in Statuary Hall.

        As to whether he was specifically targeted or if it was random, that's the question. But that's knowledge we can obtai

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      They probably looked at his web page. It doesn't mean help from inside. It does suggest there was some specific pre-planning.

    • Sounds like another good goose chase that should take a special investigations team a few years to find a bunch of nothing. Weren't you raging that proof was required for such extreme accusations just moments ago?
    • Of course they had inside help. You tend to get a lot of inside help when you storm a place, take one of the insiders, beat them to death and then ask their still alive colleague for directions.

  • by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @07:28PM (#60935652)

    The precise locations of Parler users inside the building can be difficult to place. The coordinates do not reveal which floors they are on, for instance. Moreover, the data only includes Parler users who posted videos taken on January 6. And the coordinates themselves are only accurate up to an approximate distance of 12 yards (11 meters).

    Umm, if these are videos, or pictures, with metadata, I’m going to go out on a limb and say the actual scene should reveal the exact location. It’s not some cookie cutter genetic building.

  • Not much talk about US security due to this coup attempt, but hopefully this GPS (and possibly just tower triangulation) data will help to assess the danger.

    There are the most sensitive information about US safety on the computers in this building, and in the rooms of this building the most sensitive US secrets are being talked about. I am pretty sure foreign agent new about it going to happen (at least the possibility). I just hope that the certain rooms have not been breached.

  • Breaking information from the FBI reveals that a significant percentage of the protesters who entered the United States Capitol Building are regular users of Charmin. What’s more, an analysis of their phone data has revealed that the Charmin users are heavy users of squares and refuse to limit their usage to only a square or two revealing their revolutionary nature. In an interview with one Capitol Hill Charmin user, they stated that “I like to live on the edge. I don’t care what the Ninn
  • Misleading... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Bert64 ( 520050 ) <.moc.eeznerif.todhsals. .ta. .treb.> on Tuesday January 12, 2021 @10:20PM (#60936146) Homepage

    GPS is not terribly accurate inside of buildings, for instance i'm inside an apartment building right now but the GPS can place me anywhere within a few hundred meters of my actual location. You would get a much better idea of where the camera was located by looking at the images and correlating anything visible that might give a clue as to the physical location.

    Also just because a user posted a video or photo to parler, does not prove that user took the video/photo in question, they could have obtained it elsewhere and reposted it to parler.

  • I bet every office and private bathroom in the capital have been bugged five times over.

  • It's stupid to rely on a communication system completely controlled by your adversary where you're planning and executing a rebellion. You're not even using end-to-end encryption between you and your rebel colleagues. That 3rd party company (Facebook, Parler, whatever) is under the control of the government and law enforcement and is going to hand over everything as soon as they come knocking. There was a guy around here who was all, "some day there's gonna be a revolt, people are preparing, man!" ...and

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