Slashdot Mirror


Canadian Police Are Texting Potential Murder Witnesses (vice.com)

On Thursday, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will send text messages to anybody who was in the vicinity of a murder in the hopes that one of them will have information that can help catch the culprit. One of the recipients may even be the killer. Others may wonder how the police obtained their phone number in the first place, or knew where they were on the day in question. From a Motherboard report: The OPP is ramping up its efforts to find the murderer of 65-year-old hitchhiker John Hatch, who was found dead near Erin, Ontario, on December 17, 2015. He was last seen alive the day before, outside Ottawa. Now, the OPP has announced what it's describing as a "new investigative technique" for the force: obtaining the phone numbers of everyone who was in the area where and when Hatch was last seen alive, via a court order, and sending each person a text message directing them to a police website. If they follow those instructions, they'll be asked a series of online questions. According to digital privacy lawyer David Fraser, this technique is known as a "tower dump" -- essentially asking telecom companies for information about everyone who connected to a certain cellphone tower, at a given time. If the police plan on using this technique again, its future uses could have unintended effects, Frasier said.

5 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. You have the right to remain silent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I suggest you use it. There is never anything to gain from talking to the police. Ever. The idea of the policeman as keeper of the peace is dead in Canada as one by one rights in the charter are ignored "for the public good".

    Fortunately the right to remain silent is still valid.

    1. Re: You have the right to remain silent by Hylandr · · Score: 4, Informative

      What could possibly go wrong?

      Video completely related.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
    2. Re:You have the right to remain silent by SumDog · · Score: 4, Informative

      You should talk to a lawyer if you saw something, and have them deliver your message to the police. Yes, being a good citizen can cost you money.

      Here are several reasons why:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik ..this is the world we live in. :(

  2. What could possibly go wrong? by Hylandr · · Score: 1, Informative

    Video completely related.

    This is going to get messy...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
  3. Re:will they pay for that? even if there are high by newcastlejon · · Score: 5, Informative

    No you don't. Never have done (unless you were roaming at the time). The USA is the only country I've heard of that has carriers who charge for receiving messages.

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.