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Verizon Tells Cops "Your Money Or Your Life"
Mike writes "A 62-year-old man had a mental breakdown and ran off after grabbing several bottles of pills from his house. The cops asked Verizon to help trace the man using his cellphone, but Verizon refused, saying that they couldn't turn on his phone because he had an unpaid bill for $20. After an 11-hour search (during which time the sheriff's department was trying to figure out how to pay the bill), the man was found, unconscious. 'I was more concerned for the person's life,' Sheriff Dale Williams said. 'It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill.' Score another win for the Verizon Customer Service team."
article doesn't say anything about whether or not they followed proper channels. Anybody can call in and say, "Hi, I'm a cop, we need to find Bob, can you turn his phone on then track it?" Any customer service is going to say no. Cops actually have their own support teams that they work with, and generally, they will need things like court orders to access accounts or tracking.
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Actually, you can get emergency cell phone access even if you haven't paid your bill. All you have to do is turn it on and call 911. Your call will go through because phone companies are required to connect you to emergency services even after your account's been canceled.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1#Inactive_telephones
Incorrect. 911 services in the USA must always work from any phone. Even disconnected unpayed cell phones.
That's what they were saying...
At any rate he wasn't trying to call 911, he was passed out in a ditch somewhere high as a kite.
The cops were trying to find said dude, by getting his phone turned on (for a few minutes) and establishing a trace to find him.
Why is common sense called that if it's not common?
Cell phone technology is still new, and the capabilities are still being learned.
This is true, and cell providers still haven't standardized even by region, let alone provider, how to send caller information to 911 dispatch stations. Every time a client of mine decides to deploy PhaseII at their center, programming has to come up with a new workaround for whatever weird quirk their local providers have with their service.
On the other hand, getting specifications and parameters from the telcos is like pulling teeth, even when it's for 911 call centers, so 3/4's of the time we end up having to figure out what's different on our own. Verizon definitely has the most quirky rebid setup of any of the providers we deal with.
Read it again:
during which time the sheriff's department was trying to figure out how to pay the bill
The $20 wasn't the issue. The fucking paperwork was the issue.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
You're thinking of Qwest actually. AT&T and the rest of the phone companies handed over data without a warrant, and Qwest told the US Gov to go pound sand.
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See e.g. Searches And Seizures FAQ (PDF). The police don't need a warrant if they have a reasonable fear that their safety, or that of the public, is in imminent danger. This case seems to be a cut and dried emergency case. Now, whether the Verizon operator had a legal duty (moral duty is obvious) to comply with the police's emergency request.. I imagine the operator, or Verizon itself, could be charged with Obstruction of Justice.
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