Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Snitch in Your Pocket (Tracking Americans' Cell Phones in Real Time— Without a Warrant)
Newsweek ^ | 2/19/10 | Michael Isikoff

Posted on 02/22/2010 12:29:24 PM PST by nickcarraway

Law enforcement is tracking Americans' cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant.

Amid all the furor over the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program a few years ago, a mini-revolt was brewing over another type of federal snooping that was getting no public attention at all. Federal prosecutors were seeking what seemed to be unusually sensitive records: internal data from telecommunications companies that showed the locations of their customers' cell phones—sometimes in real time, sometimes after the fact. The prosecutors said they needed the records to trace the movements of suspected drug traffickers, human smugglers, even corrupt public officials. But many federal magistrates—whose job is to sign off on search warrants and handle other routine court duties—were spooked by the requests. Some in New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas balked. Prosecutors "were using the cell phone as a surreptitious tracking device," said Stephen W. Smith, a federal magistrate in Houston. "And I started asking the U.S. Attorney's Office, 'What is the legal authority for this? What is the legal standard for getting this information?' "

Those questions are now at the core of a constitutional clash between President Obama's Justice Department and civil libertarians alarmed by what they see as the government's relentless intrusion into the private lives of citizens. There are numerous other fronts in the privacy wars—about the content of e-mails, for instance, and access to bank records and credit-card transactions. The Feds now can quietly get all that information. But cell-phone tracking is among the more unsettling forms of government surveillance, conjuring up Orwellian images of Big Brother secretly following your movements through the small device in your pocket.

How many of the owners of the country's 277 million cell phones even know that companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint can track their devices in real time?

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 4thamendment; bigbrother; cellphones
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last
To: nickcarraway

I honestly don’t know.


21 posted on 02/22/2010 12:56:01 PM PST by RobRoy (The US today: Revelation 18:4)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: mkjessup

YOu are right about where you are but I was referring to the “who called.”


22 posted on 02/22/2010 12:56:04 PM PST by Chickensoup (We have the government we deserve. Is our government our traitor?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Whoever monitors my whereabouts is going to be bored to tears.

I say bring it on.


23 posted on 02/22/2010 12:58:56 PM PST by JusPasenThru (Why won't those knuckle-dragging tea-bagging right-wing bastards just negotiate with me?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Buy a prepaid, simple phone (mine was $9.99 Tracfone).
Don’t turn it on until you want to make a call.
Problem solved.


24 posted on 02/22/2010 12:59:12 PM PST by Flintlock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nik Naym

You can turn the GPS “off”, however law enforcement can still override that.

“The only way to be secure when carrying a cell phone is to remove the battery.”

That is correct. One US Goernment facility where I worked required that cell phones either have the battery removed or left outside the perimeter.


25 posted on 02/22/2010 1:01:24 PM PST by Fred Hayek (From this point forward the Democratic Party will be referred to as the Communist Party)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
We have a Yamaha electric grand piano in our living room and if a cellphone is in the same room it will ping through it (resonance?)every once in awhile.

So some kind of communication is going on passively.

Anyone else notice similar phenomenon?

26 posted on 02/22/2010 1:01:59 PM PST by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nik Naym

The IPhone doesn’t have a removable battery.


27 posted on 02/22/2010 1:02:13 PM PST by Pajama Blogger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway
Bookmark for classroom discussion in sociology this week. The kids will LOVE this one! NOT! They're really huge fans of our "Dear Leader." I teach in an inner city high school.
28 posted on 02/22/2010 1:19:10 PM PST by ExSoldier (Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on dinner. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: norraad
We have a Yamaha electric grand piano in our living room and if a cellphone is in the same room it will ping through it (resonance?)every once in awhile.

If the phone is turned on, it will communicate with the nearby cell tower periodically. The resulting interference with some electronic devices is especially noticeable in GSM phones (i.e. AT&T, T-mobile).

In your case, the piano is not sufficiently shielded to avoid reject the interference. I also hear it through speakerphones all the time. It is reportedly a real problem for some hearing aids, which are so small that sufficient shielding is impossible.

29 posted on 02/22/2010 1:20:32 PM PST by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Nik Naym
The only way to be secure when carrying a cell phone is to remove the battery.

If someone rarely does that, then one day they do, that is a tip off they are up to something. It can be much more incriminating than leaving the cell phone on, sitting in front of a TV.

30 posted on 02/22/2010 1:25:37 PM PST by Reeses
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Buy either an internet tablet or an old PocketPC/Palm Pilot with Wifi capabilities on Ebay.


31 posted on 02/22/2010 1:27:25 PM PST by TypeZoNegative (Pro life & Vegan because I respect all life, Republican because our enemies don't respect ours.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: norraad

I’ve noticed the problem if I put it too close to my computer speakers, or the stereo in my car. I’ve also noticed it on wireless mics if the speaker puts the mic transmitter near a cell phone.


32 posted on 02/22/2010 1:39:03 PM PST by kosciusko51
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Secret Agent Man

I don’t think you can remove the battery from Ipods.


33 posted on 02/22/2010 1:42:17 PM PST by Renegade ("Bring it on while I still don't need glasses to shoot your eye out ")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: mkjessup

“All land line calls are tracked”

Might as well be tracking buggy whips too! (Who needs a land line anymore?)


34 posted on 02/22/2010 1:44:53 PM PST by Dem Guard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: NY Attitude

I think that even if your option is turned off, as long as your cell has power and can receive, that can be overridden.


35 posted on 02/22/2010 1:50:02 PM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Nervous Tick

I think your right. I suppose one could remove the battery from their cell phone while doing their dastardly deeds and not be tracked.


36 posted on 02/22/2010 1:50:43 PM PST by Dem Guard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Reeses
If someone rarely does that, then one day they do, that is a tip off they are up to something. It can be much more incriminating than leaving the cell phone on, sitting in front of a TV.

Why not just buy a throw away? No phone, no records of who was called, or originated the call.

37 posted on 02/22/2010 1:53:31 PM PST by Dem Guard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

I think they call the tracking device for landlines a phone book.


38 posted on 02/22/2010 1:53:47 PM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

This is why pay phones are so rare...


39 posted on 02/22/2010 1:55:36 PM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dem Guard

I still use my landline exclusively when I am home. My cell doesn’t work well at home, I can have phones in different rooms, and I can use a decent sized phone instead of some little thing.


40 posted on 02/22/2010 1:57:44 PM PST by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson