Slashdot Mirror
Feds Push For Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking
An anonymous reader writes "An article at CNET is reporting on the Obama administration's push for warrantless tracking of the location of cell phones (Verizon Wireless stores location data for one year, for instance). The Justice Department says no warrant is necessary: 'Because wireless carriers regularly generate and retain the records at issue, and because these records provide only a very general indication of a user's whereabouts at certain times in the past, the requested cell-site records do not implicate a Fourth Amendment privacy interest.'"
And if you read the 10th amendment at face value, nowhere is there authorization for quite literally the majority of the federal government. The very existence and authority of most federal agencies relies on the **spirit** of the Constitution's enumerated powers, not the actual hard letter.
Therefore, they should be required to abide by the **spirit** of the 4th amendment.
If someone's general location is not protected by the 4th amendment, lets see a web site that shows the "general location" of all federal employees. Seems only fair.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
I know it's bad form to reply to your self but wanted to note this.. A warrant gives the police special access to a location or information, something not publicly available. If it goes through that they don't need a warrant then could we not use this as a stepping stone to justify any member of the public requesting the same information from the telecom's? not just for our selves but for any one.. it's just a different way of looking at it - and one that should commonly be viewed
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
That's what I thought.
Now, I'm Canadian, so I'm not entirely versed in US Law (having learned most of it from Law and Order) but my understanding was:
The US Constitution is a list of things the Government is allowed to do. If it's not on the list, it's not okay.
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
This is true. We need an amendment that says -- and I think the more plain English the better -- something along the lines of: communication on the internet is protected in the same way any other communication is protected. It is not a new frontier, it is just another communications tool. For each new communications tool, all previous rights and privileges need necessarily still apply.
Well, something like that. It should be really broad and obvious. When in doubt, you have the right to say it. When in doubt, the government can't get it without a fucking warrant. Maybe it should just say that (sans fuck).
Imagine if you weren't allowed to use roads because a bus company complained about your driving 3 times. --skunkpussy
you can bet they are violating the intent. As the government has expanded so has the explanation for everything they do. The write long winded justifications all so that by the time you get done reading it you forget what it was about. It almost as if they hope that people opposed will just throw up their hands and give up.
Remember, those who clutch to their Constitution are now the radicals.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
You do understand that Bill Clinton was doing the exact same thing that Bush had been and Obama is doing, right? Bill Clinton started a lot of the phone monitoring that Bush increased. The fact is that any president is going to push the envelop on what is possible, as will anyone that is engaged in any activity. It is only when a person is slapped with an order to stop fucking around that they will actually consider it. Probably.
The fact that the Justice Department is claiming this is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment is a real problem. Yeah, they may continually violate people's right, but it is humorous that the government would be dumb enough to use such a stupid, untrue argument. Thank god for this "Hope" and "Change".