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ICE, CBP, Secret Service All Illegally Used Smartphone Location Data (404media.co) 61

Posted by BeauHD from the surprise-surprise dept.
Slash_Account_Dot shares a report from 404 Media, written by Joseph Cox: In a bombshell report, an oversight body for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP), and the Secret Service all broke the law while using location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones. In one instance, a CBP official also inappropriately used the technology to track the location of coworkers with no investigative purpose. For years U.S. government agencies have been buying access to location data through commercial vendors, a practice which critics say skirts the Fourth Amendment requirement of a warrant. During that time, the agencies have typically refused to publicly explain the legal basis on which they based their purchase and use of the data. Now, the report shows that three of the main customers of commercial location data broke the law while doing so, and didn't have any supervisory review to ensure proper use of the technology. The report also recommends that ICE stop all use of such data until it obtains the necessary approvals, a request that ICE has refused.

The report, titled "CBP, ICE, and Secret Service Did Not Adhere to Privacy Policies or Develop Sufficient Policies Before Procuring and Using Commercial Telemetry Data," is dated September 28, 2023, and comes from Joseph V. Cuffari, the Inspector General for DHS. The report was originally marked as "law enforcement sensitive," but the Inspector General has now released it publicly.
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ICE, CBP, Secret Service All Illegally Used Smartphone Location Data More

ICE, CBP, Secret Service All Illegally Used Smartphone Location Data

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  • ends (Score:5, Insightful)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Thursday October 05, 2023 @09:07PM (#63904615)

    Cops of all strips seem to think they are above the law, the ends always justify the means. Fully expecting my own extraordinary rendition for saying it.

    • They mostly are (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
      qualified immunity can get you out of anything unless you're on tape doing it, and even then it often still works.

      About 1/3 of the country lives in a constant state of fear of a combination of crips, bloods, super predators and anti-fa super soldiers. They make songs about their towns being overrun with crime [duckduckgo.com] and fantasize about reenacting old Charles Bronson movies [youtube.com].

      Once your hysteria reaches those levels you'll cheerfully give away rights and allow the militarization of police. And if you're police
      • Qualified Immunity only allows immunity when 'qualified' which would mean the govt actor knows they are not breaking any law. If they are aware of what they're doing is wrong, qualified immunity is not applied and there's no protection from being sued. Using this data for personal reasons, obviously these people know that was inappropriate and criminal.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward
          So all those cops killing black people got off just because they didn't know it was wrong?
          Fuck your country is even sadder than I'd realized.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by nasch ( 598556 )

        Qualified immunity has nothing to do with claiming the incident didn't happen, so whether there's video is irrelevant.

    • Cops of all strips seem to think they are above the law, the ends always justify the means. Fully expecting my own extraordinary rendition for saying it.

      The way the judiciary treats cops, they might as well be. Cops have been getting away with literal actual murders, extortion, countless assaults, blackmail, colluding with mafia types, and more for as long as I've been alive and far longer still.

  • Well I'm shocked! (Score:4, Funny)

    by sarren1901 ( 5415506 ) on Thursday October 05, 2023 @09:07PM (#63904617)

    Just shocked I tell you! Our honorable law enforcement would NEVER skirt the United States Constitution!

    Surely something will be done and our Congress will put aside their petty squabbles and properly setup guidelines and restrictions for these agencies!

    I expect tomorrow's news we will see lawmakers on the television telling us what they plan to do about this abhorrent behavior!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by haruchai ( 17472 )

      Just shocked I tell you! Our honorable law enforcement would NEVER skirt the United States Constitution!

      Surely something will be done and our Congress will put aside their petty squabbles and properly setup guidelines and restrictions for these agencies!

      I expect tomorrow's news we will see lawmakers on the television telling us what they plan to do about this abhorrent behavior!

      Will buy us all popcorn should that happen.
      Is it unreasonable of me to think I won't be spending a dime because of this?

    • Theres a heaven too with Jesus and streets paved with gold. Land of milk and honey I tells ya....

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Just shocked I tell you! Our honorable law enforcement would NEVER skirt the United States Constitution!

      Surely something will be done and our Congress will put aside their petty squabbles and properly setup guidelines and restrictions for these agencies!

      I expect tomorrow's news we will see lawmakers on the television telling us what they plan to do about this abhorrent behavior!

      Mon dieu...

      However calls to defund and reign in these semi-militaristic, unaccountable organisations are met with scorn and disdain for minorities. People are happy to have a police state as long as it's not whites being policed... Then raise murderers who travel across state lines to "defend" to hero status. Blah, blah, blah, it's all anti-fa's fault that you have a fascist police force.

  • Shocked, I tell you! Who could have foreseen this? Why, it's unprecedented!

    • Yep. Sure, similar abuses have been pretty much ubiquitous throughout history... but this is the first* time it's ever happened today!

      *it's definitely not the first time today.

  • Means nothing (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sizzlinkitty ( 1199479 ) on Thursday October 05, 2023 @09:15PM (#63904637)

    Saying it was illegally obtained means nothing until someone or a group with enough power holds them responsible for violating your rights. The only group that I've seen stand up to the federal government are those crazy Jan 6 Resurrection guys. Our correctly elected politics aren't doing anything for your rights.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by davidwr ( 791652 )

      The only group that I've seen stand up to the federal government are those crazy Jan 6 Resurrection guys.

      Well, there was that bunch of people in South Carolina and vicinity back in 1861, but that didn't work out so well for them. Or for the winning side either.

      Oh wait, you said "that I've seen." Okay, I'll admit, 1861 was probably before your time.

  • 404 404 404 Fuck these dolts and fuck all the shill accounts on here now

  • Is it illegal if? (Score:3)

    by BytePusher ( 209961 ) on Friday October 06, 2023 @12:57AM (#63904905) Homepage
    Is it really Illegal if there aren't consequences?

    • Is it really Illegal if there aren't consequences?

      Yes, it is illegal. Whether the law is enforced, that's another thing altogether.

  • Hmm ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Friday October 06, 2023 @02:16AM (#63904997)

    ICE, CBP, Secret Service All Illegally Used Smartphone Location Data

    And yet, *all* the Secret Service cell phone data from around Jan 6th went missing.

  • 9/11 (Score:4, Insightful)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Friday October 06, 2023 @02:32AM (#63905019)
    The USA's essentially still in 9/11 mode. The Bush administration said catch 'em by any means necessary & we'll provide protection/immunity. Systematically lawless law enforcement is a direct result of that. By 'em, the Bush administration meant "the bad guys," a label which can easily be applied to anyone they don't like.

    • The United States has been in an almost continuous declared state of emergency since *1933*, excluding only a 15 month window from September 1978 to November 1979.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      Come on this hardly started with Bush.

      Wako, Ruby Ridge, Elian Gonzalez, and on and on going back to at least J Hoover. This did not start with Bush jr.

      The administrative state, in particular the DOJ and its child organizations, have been out of control for longer than anyone posting here has been alive.

    • I mean the increased powers, funding, & impunity offered to US law enforcement offered immediately after 9/11. Militarised police attacking civilians rather than policing them. It's as if they gave up entirely on the idea of civilisation.

      But than, as I was writing that, I remembered the old quote, "The USA is the only country that has gone from barbarism to decadence, without civilisation in between." - Apparently, French newspaper La Liberté, 1932.

  • Of course the deep state exists (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Bruce66423 ( 1678196 ) on Friday October 06, 2023 @03:41AM (#63905115)

    Despite routine denials by many people who dismiss the possibility. This is yet another reminder that 'they' are not accountable to the public. For those who have joined recently, remember this story and the total lack of consequences for the CIA for its treatment of Congress.

    https://www.theguardian.com/wo... [theguardian.com]

    The only valid point that the deniers do have is that the various bits of the deep state don't seem to have a coherent purpose, and it's certainly true that they haven't done a very good job at keeping the crazies out of power.

    • The only valid point that the deniers do have is that the various bits of the deep state don't seem to have a coherent purpose

      You were so close there. Guess what? If the "deep state" is actually in "various bits" and doesn't have a "coherent purpose" then there is no deep state — because the allegation was that the "deep state" was a criminal conspiracy to rule the nation.

      Even you know there's no such thing, and your comment proves it. Just retire in disgrace already.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by HiThere ( 15173 )

        The thing is, both you and the gp are correct. The evidence for the "deep state" is all around us, but the explanation that it's a coherent group is a fantasy. It's closer to the "Illuminatus" scenario. So, yes, there's lots of evidence. But it's all disconnected groups, most of which are just using any tool at hand to make their job (however they define it) easier. And not really caring about the law...partially because it's never enforced.

        • The thing is, both you and the gp are correct.

          We literally can't both be correct, because in reality (and also what you're saying is) there is no "the deep state", and that is a central part of the mythology.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by HiThere ( 15173 )

            You're assuming that the term "deep state" has an uniformly agreed upon meaning, and that's not true. Even among the groups who believe in unified conspiracies behind it, they don't believe in the same conspiracies. The only thing approaching a unified meaning of the term is the evidence they point to as supporting it. (Even that's pretty variable.)

            • You're assuming that the term "deep state" has an uniformly agreed upon meaning, and that's not true.

              If you mean every last crazy who believes in it has different crazy ideas about it, that's true. However, the whole basis of the idea of a deep state [wikipedia.org] is a single unified group within a government pursuing specific goals.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        oh almost...

        The issue with deep state is that there is a cabal of unelected long implanted bureaucrats with their own agenda. There is plenty evidence there is a shared understanding among them that bends toward forming some kind of multi-national-facist institution.

        Now some of their actions align with the elected leadership at various times. Sometimes they can buck the leadership and hide in the Judaical branches skirts, and sometimes they just have to strait up act counter to their agenda or not get in t

        • Sometimes they can buck the leadership and hide in the Judaical branches skirts, and sometimes they just have to strait up act counter to their agenda or not get in the way of the people who are because they still need to preserve the appearance this a government by the people.

          And we are back to the Jewish conspiracy again... is the you Ms Greene?

  • What is this source? (Score:3)

    by Eunomion ( 8640039 ) on Friday October 06, 2023 @03:52AM (#63905135)
    We're suddenly being bombarded with links to "404 Media," which I've never heard of, and whose references are full of links to themselves.

  • Executive Branch agencies acting like kids during a sleep-over "you didn't tell us not to do it!"

    The Constitution is the US's ultimate law; even violating the 4th amendment via proxy is still breaking the law. Unfortunately, we also have SCOTUS, and they've allowed third-party doctrine as well [wikipedia.org] Ultimately you don't know all that's tracking you on your phone and for all you know it's that Walmart+ app and the Feds are buying that tracking data from them.

  • n a bombshell report, an oversight body for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP), and the Secret Service all broke the law while using location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones.

    Everyone knew as soon as the information was gathered that it would be used. (Why else gather it?)

    I guess some people are surprised that all of these government agencies used that data, but I do not understand WHY they are surprised. Skirting the law is the National Pastime here in the USA. The fact that these instances are corrupt as all hell does not even enter the conversation. Stick a fork in it, this thing is done. Do you think we will hear Biden or any of the lawmakers pretend to be shocked? Nope. Bus

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GlennC ( 96879 )

      Business as usual. Pay your taxes citizen.

      And remember to mark your ballot citizen. D or R, your choice.

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