Posted on 03/07/2020 8:29:48 AM PST by BenLurkin
Google’s legal investigations support team, writing to let him know that local police had demanded information related to his Google account. The company said it would release the data unless he went to court and tried to block it. He had just seven days.
He had an Android phone, which was linked to his Google account, and, like millions of other Americans, he used an assortment of Google products, including Gmail and YouTube. Now police seemingly wanted access to all of it.
In the notice from Google was a case number. McCoy searched for it on the Gainesville Police Department’s website, and found a one-page investigation report on the burglary of an elderly woman’s home 10 months earlier. The crime had occurred less than a mile from the home that McCoy, who had recently earned an associate degree in computer programming, shared with two others.
Now McCoy was even more panicked and confused. He knew he had nothing to do with the break-in ─ he’d never even been to the victim’s house ─ and didn’t know anyone who might have. And he didn’t have much time to prove it.
McCoy worried that going straight to police would lead to his arrest. So he went to his parents’ home in St. Augustine, where, over dinner, he told them what was happening. They agreed to dip into their savings to pay for a lawyer.
The lawyer, Caleb Kenyon, dug around and learned that the notice had been prompted by a “geofence warrant,” a police surveillance tool that casts a virtual dragnet over crime scenes, sweeping up Google location data — drawn from users’ GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular connections — from everyone nearby.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
That way, if you ever do need to ah "elude" such casual surveillance you can take appropriate measures. If some interested party comes looking they'll see a long history of you being easily tracked by the usual means. So when those means don't show anything of interest they will move on and have no reason to dig further. If you're making it difficult to be tracked all along then they are going to have to resort to other means. Means that might not be so easy to elude if/when you ever want/need to.
It's not exactly establishing your digital alibi right now. More like making your life appear boring and of no interest. Ha, fortunately for me that is all too easy, my life is boring and of little interest! Heck if anyone bothered to look I don't even speed on the highway or vary from the routine much. Anyone ever looked at their google maps timeline? The other day I was fooling with it and thought it was broken. I clicked on a couple of different days and nothing changed - they were all weekdays and showed my usual commute - there was no variation whatsoever. I thought the website was broken and not responding...LOL
For some reason Google in January emailed me a log of my 2019 travels - out of town trips, commutes, places visited.
Leave the phone (at home), take the cannolis.
Check the Android EULA. You sign that away by using an Android phone.
Most modern phones don’t actually turn off, they just go into a very low power state. If you have an Android phone, it records where it’s been through GPS and sends it when you power back up.
It has to do with the European Union’s GDPR - companies must tell you if they hold certain data of yours.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Data_Protection_Regulation
“Most modern phones don’t actually turn off, they just go into a very low power state.”
That’s why my default device is BlackBerry Classic. If I’m traveling and need certain apps, e.g., AAA, iExit, Maps, FlightAware, etc., I’ll switch the SIM to my Android. Otherwise, I’m happy with the basics and a little privacy.
BlackBerry Classic devices also run tracking telemetry.
“BlackBerry Classic devices also run tracking telemetry.”
Now you tell me! And here I was happy living in my fool’s paradise. LOL!
Just another example of the ongoing pretense that our civil rights are irrelevant when it comes to “Modern” communications or travel.
They are not getting a warrant, they just Assume the powers of a warrant.
Until someone with very deep pockets prevails in court (Ya, Right, like THAT is going to happen!) they will continue abusing technology to deprive us of our rights.
Ands if you complain, you are a suspect, since, only the guilty demand their rights*!
* A view I have seen espoused from a great many who should know better, including Freepers.
> Check the Android EULA. You sign that away by using an Android phone. <
That’s a very good point. Not that anyone in power cares, but no EULA should be able to strip you of your fundamental rights as an American citizen.
Then there's a story about a divorced guy, let's call him ... ME.
Were something bad and "unexpected" happen to my ex-wife, guess who suspect #1 is?
That's right.
Do I want Google tracking my every move with my cellphone?
You bet, it's called an ALIBI.
This is a public service message to all.
It’s a contract. People sign away fundamental rights all the time - see military recruiting contracts.
It really isn’t the government’s problem that people are too stupid to actually read the EULA before continuing to use the device.
Where the tracking telemetry goes is a bit different with BB. If it was a corporate/enterprise device, it goes to the corporate buyer. If it was retail, I think it goes to BlackBerry but since I was mostly concerned with corporate I may be wrong on it. I also don’t recall if BB actually sells that info like Google does - but it wouldn’t surprise me if they do.
> It really isn’t the government’s problem that people are too stupid to actually read the EULA before continuing to use the device. <
I would agree with that if there was a real choice: if you don’t like one company’s EULA, go with some other company. But I’m guessing that all cell phones have the same kind of EULA. I hope someone corrects me if I’m wrong about that.
Anyway, I’m not asking for much. If the police want to examine my cell phone data, fine. Just get a warrant. Convince some judge that I’m a possible bad guy. Otherwise, leave me (and my data) alone.
> For some reason Google in January emailed me a log of my 2019 travels...
Wait until you get the speeding tickets because the data shows you were traveling to fast along a section of highway.
Note to self: don’t install a bike riding app on your smartphone.
You make an excellent point. This circumstance is probably a very good thing for you, as long as you stay out of the side of town where the woman lives. Or any certain areas that she is known to frequent on a regular basis.
Lady Luck can be very fickle.
She’s on the other side of the tracks where she belongs, with the rest of the trash. I don’t go there. :-)
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