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Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:07:59 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com> Date: December 9, 2005 10:24:44 PM EST To: EPIC_IDOF () mailman epic orgSubject: [EPIC_IDOF] Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/10/technology/10phone.html? ei=5094&en=4dace02
ac3105d11&hp=&ex=1134190800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print December 10, 2005 Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy By MATT RICHTEL Most Americans carry cellphones, but many may not know that governmentagencies can track their movements through the signals emanating from the
handset. In recent years, law enforcement officials have turned to cellular technology as a tool for easily and secretly monitoring the movements ofsuspects as they occur. But this kind of surveillance - which investigators have been able to conduct with easily obtained court orders - has now come
under tougher legal scrutiny.In the last four months, three federal judges have denied prosecutors the right to get cellphone tracking information from wireless companies without first showing "probable cause" to believe that a crime has been or is being
committed. That is the same standard applied to requests for search warrants.The rulings, issued by magistrate judges in New York, Texas and Maryland,
underscore the growing debate over privacy rights and government surveillance in the digital age.With mobile phones becoming as prevalent as conventional phones (there are 195 million cellular subscribers in this country), wireless companies are starting to exploit the phones' tracking abilities. For example, companies
are marketing services to users that turn their phones into even moreprecise global positioning devices for driving or allowing parents to track
the whereabouts of their children through the handsets.Not surprisingly, law enforcement agencies want to exploit this technology, too - which means more courts are bound to wrestle with what legal standard
applies when government agents ask to conduct such surveillance.Cellular operators like Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless know, within
about 300 yards, the location of their subscribers whenever a phone is turned on. Even if the phone is not in use it is communicating withcellphone tower sites, and the wireless provider keeps track of the phone's position as it travels. The operators have said that they turn over location
information when presented with a court order to do so.The recent rulings by the magistrates, who are appointed by a majority of the federal district judges in a given court, do not bind other courts. But
they could significantly curtail access to cell location data if otherjurisdictions adopt the same reasoning. (The government's requests in the
three cases, with their details, were sealed because they involve investigations still under way.) ... Richard _______________________________________________ EPIC_IDOF mailing list EPIC_IDOF () mailman epic org https://mailman.epic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/epic_idof ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- Live Tracking of Mobile Phones Prompts Court Fights on Privacy David Farber (Dec 10)