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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.'"
Then vote republican...
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
It shows you of the absurdity of people like those in the Tea Party movement. They're complaining about non-existent things like "concentration camps" and saying the government is gonna take your guns while this sort of this actually is happening.
No parallel. This location data they're requesting is HISTROICAL, not real time tracking and location information. This is NO DIFFERENT than the lack of a warrant it takes to acquire your calling records, to scan your e-mail headers (not message content), to pull credit card receipts, and more.
This data helps cops, who have DOCUMENTED PROBABLY CAUSE, and how FILE A FORM, and go through DUE PROCESS, to find a criminal or suspect, or interested 3rd party they seek on an ACTIVE CASE.
This does NOT give cops the ability to simply search this data when ever they want, for anyone. Why not? verizon and otherc charge a FEE for the access, EACH TIME it's accessed. Those charges have to be billed back to an active case file, or justified, otherwise, without the due process, a) the officer gets fired, or best case eats the charges out of his personal payroll, and likely faces sanctions and administrative punishments, b) the person, when notified of this access without due process, DOES have a legal case against the cop who illegally pulled this information.
just because there is no warrant required does NOT mean there's no probable cause and due process required. A cop can search your car if you're pulled over for a speeding ticket, based on a number of reasons or suspicions. If you refuse a search, it only requires some paperwork, and a supervisor to arrive on scene to force a search anyway (or they impound your car). However, if a cop pulls you over, without cause or charge, and asks to search your car, he has no cause and can not. Neither case requires a warrant, but you DO have levels of protection. The fact there's a financial penalty to the department to make this access makes it that much less liely it will be done without being tied to an actual case file.
Think about it, tracking history for known criminals (lets say we ARREST a drug dealer, and he won;t reveal his source), now they make a request, pay verizon, download his location history, and dispatch a few officers with warrents to search a few of his frequent stops (other suspected dealer homes). Bamb, gotcha.
The cops and the government don;t give a FUCK about you or your habits unless you;re already on their radar. This is simply one additional tool. if they don;t have it, they'll just scope out your house or work and follow you the old fashioned way. That is expensive, inaccurate, and a waste of manpower better spent keeping drugs away from my kids, tracking down wanted suspects, and cross validating false alibis.
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.
and the cop can't open an active case on that reasoning. There must first be a REPORTED CRIME.
For your reasoning, hmm, you;re driving without a license in your possession. That's enough to get you arrested on it's own, whether or not you HAVE one, not having it ON you is illegal.
If they have existing probable cause to believe you may have paraphernalia on you, or associate you with a known criminal, then YES, they can request to search your car. If you refuse, they impound it, do some more paperwork, still don;t require a warrant, and search it anyway. if they find nothing, they apologize and send you on your way. If they find something, you are guilty, period. Evidence is evidence is evidence. Illegally found or not, YOU are guilty, sue the cop and put him in jail WITH you if he didn't follow due process...
However, that has no bearing on this argument. This location data (which is just TOWER location data btw, not down to the meter GPS location data unless you called 911), is as easily collected by an officer legally following you, or by your purchase records which don;t require a warrant to obtain, or by your work schedule, time clock log, and just about anything else they can get. WHERE YOU GO IN PUBLIC IS NOT PRIVATE INFORMATION YOU PARANOID NUT JOB.
Access to that information however, without due process, YES, you can sue the department for that. That's why it requires a form to be filled out, and then Verizon further CHARGES for it. Do you really think a chief of police is going to look favorably on a cop who accessed your wife's records, unless there was an open case documented that she was tied to, and where those records had likelihood of having value to the case? No, he's going to deduct that charge from the cop's payroll, likely suspend him, possibly notify you (IA says he has to), and maybe fire him.
There is no contest in life for which the unprepared have the advantage.