Court OK's warrantless tracking of phone GPS

[talltex]

US 5th Circuit Court of appeals, overturned Houston Federal District ruling in 2011 that required a search warrant be issued before personal cell phone records and GPS tracking data could be obtained by Government agencies. The new ruling said that that information belongs to the service provider, not the individual, so it's not covered under the 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. Big Brother not only listens to the conversations...he knows where you are when you have them.

[texanjoker]

The 5th circuit is often over turned.

[Max1775]

And people call me paranoid... Thank God my foil hat encrypts the conversation...

[Tic Tac]

And people call me paranoid... Thank God my foil hat encrypts the conversation...

That only works if you wrap enough foil around the phone.

[cb1000rider]

I saw that today. Applies in Texas now and a few other states.
It's just amazing...

[oohrah]

Let's be realistic. Anyone who uses a cellphone cannot have an expectation of privacy. The judge is right. If you don't like it, make your provider change their policy. That's what the free market is all about.

[flechero]

Or turn off the gps feature when you aren't using it. My phone wouldn't do much more than help them find spots that don't hold fish.

[jimlongley]

Or turn off the gps feature when you aren't using it. My phone wouldn't do much more than help them find spots that don't hold fish.

I was imagining a variety of such things, like seeing to it that your phone goes to at least one strip club a week, but in my case my trips are boring enough as it is, they could track me 9 hours a day at Home Depot and only see that I tend to stay in the appliance department with trips to electrical and hardware throughout each day.

[talltex]

Or turn off the gps feature when you aren't using it. My phone wouldn't do much more than help them find spots that don't hold fish.

Now that's funny!
but we're not talking about a mapping app like Garmin...every cell phone has a GPS locator built into the phone that can be tracked and the only way to turn it off is to cut off power to the phone. My problem is not that they can track me doing something wrong...but that the government has a legal right to track me at all without a warrant. It's the same issue I have with the NSA keeping records of all out phone calls...there's just NO reason why they should be able to do so. In today's paper, there was an article about the Senate hearings on the NSA phone data program. One of the Senators questioned the claim that they'd made previously about it being responsible for thwarting over 50 terrorist plots, and they admitted that they could only show one case in which the phone data program itself was responsible. If it's not demonstrably effective, then why should we continue to spend billions of dollars to operate and staff it? Just because we have the capability to do something doesn't mean we should.

[MaxBerlin]

Talltex, they are keeping track of everything.

http://news.yahoo.com/google-pressure-c ... 00667.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sjfcontrol]

Talltex, they are keeping track of everything.

http://news.yahoo.com/google-pressure-c ... 00667.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hmmmm... The NSA must have redacted that page...

[rbwhatever1]

Talltex, they are keeping track of everything.

http://news.yahoo.com/google-pressure-c ... 00667.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hmmmm... The NSA must have redacted that page...

Pressure Cookers and backpacks seem like (2) reasonably innocent items to Google. That was a hilarious questioning session by the feds asking if they could make a bomb with a rice maker. I'm sure if you have the right ingredients you could make one out of a dirty diaper....

Yes, the beloved Government is watching everything. We pay them to watch us like cattle.

[MeMelYup]

Talltex, they are keeping track of everything.

http://news.yahoo.com/google-pressure-c ... 00667.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hmmmm... The NSA must have redacted that page...

Pressure Cookers and backpacks seem like (2) reasonably innocent items to Google. That was a hilarious questioning session by the feds asking if they could make a bomb with a rice maker. I'm sure if you have the right ingredients you could make one out of a dirty diaper....

Yes, the beloved Government is watching everything. We pay them to watch us like cattle.

Messy diapers in a pressure cooker, that would be a dirty bomb.

[The Annoyed Man]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/ ... 9R20130805
Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans

(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges.

The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or biased witnesses.

Which flag would be appropriate at this time: A) the Stars and Bars, flown upside down to indicate a nation in severe distress; or B) the Jolly Roger?

[RoyGBiv]

Or turn off the gps feature when you aren't using it.

Your cell provider can track your location any time the phone is turned on, using the location of the cell tower you're pinging. If you're nearby two cell towers, they can pinpoint your location with pretty good accuracy. The only way to avoid this is to turn off your phone and remove the battery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_tracking" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;