Local Cops Following Big Brother's Lead, Getting Cell Phone Location Data Without a Warrant

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) ^ | April 3, 2012 | Hanni Fakhoury

[Vendome]

New data from law enforcement agencies across the country has confirmed what EFF has long been afraid of: while police are routinely using cell phone location tracking information, only a handful of agencies are bothering to obtain search warrants.

Since 2005, we've been beating the drum loudly, warning that the government's attempts to track a person's physical location through their cell phone requires a search warrant. As we've said again and again, because cell phone tracking can give the government a snapshot of a person's life through their movements, a search warrant is necessary to safeguard against privacy intrusions.

[Vendome]

Different agencies and different people use widely varying standards to that are far short of a warrant authorized search.

Again, recall how your Cell phone is constantly and persistently communicating a tremendous amount of information. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/local-cops-following-big-brothers-lead-getting-cell-phone-location-data-without

[DoughtyOne]

Police agencies can get away with this, because it’s not something they use as evidence. They do it, and then there’s no paper trail. A good judge could pick up on it, but I’m not sure what they could do about it. They could cut the perp loose, but I doubt they’d do that.

[The Sons of Liberty]

Local Cops Following Big Brother's Lead, Getting Cell Phone Location Data Without a Warrant

I suspect getting locations is taught as a matter of course these days, along with the practice of shooting the family pet, justified or not, when raiding a domicile.

The cell phone providers must have their feet held to the fire regarding releasing any information.

[null and void]

The fish rots from the head.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Another reason to not get a phone with gps, or disable it if it does.

[USMCPOP]

I’ll probably get picked up one of these days. I rarely communicate on a cell phone and then it’s all in a terse code. “OK, two bunches of green onions and some broccoli.”

[riverdawg]

Even a cell phone without GPS emits an electronic footprint that enables the phone company to locate it within about 50 yards as long as two different cell towers pick up its “roaming” signal. Of course, a phone with built-in GPS can be located even more precisely.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Wouldn’t most of them be 911 calls?

[ZULU]

Die Geheime Staatspolizei coming to a neighborhood near you soon.

Overpaid, overbenefitted, overbearing and extra-Constitutional.

[txhurl]

My LEO has been using GPS for at least 10 years. Call 911 from a cell and hang up, a cop is there in minutes.

And that dude testifying/answering the question ‘can you listen in on phone calls?’ Please. Back in the 80s if someone had a landline without call waiting you could pay the operator $1.65 to break in on an emergency call to tell them someone else needed to talk to them.

[B212]

there is no law, saying that one has to have cell-phone...leave it at home/office, or remove the battery when driving.....mine, sits on the kitchen counter....

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It should be possible to spoof such information, to make it appear that the same cell phone is in several locations at once. Of course this would probably be illegal, if they thought to make it illegal while making cell phone tracking possible.

[EVO X]

Even a cell phone without GPS emits an electronic footprint that enables the phone company to locate it within about 50 yards as long as two different cell towers pick up its “roaming” signal. Of course, a phone with built-in GPS can be located even more precisely.

Businesses can buy run of the mill wireless phones and tracking software to monitor employee movements. No smart phone required..