IP: More on A Major Cellular Phone Hazard: The Violable P rivacy of Bills

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: 
To: "'farber () cis upenn edu'" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 10:49:05 -0800

You might send out the following, but please remove my name or any
identifying marks.

Several years ago, a friend was murdered. A person became the prime suspect.
However, the police was unable to present sufficient evidence to convict. 

The victim's family hired private investigators. These are usually
ex-detectives, which means they have strong connections to the police and
other sources of information. For a $50-100 personal payment to telephone
company employees, the investigators quickly had complete telephone records
for the suspect. They soon had credit card bills, online logs, and
practically everything one could imagine.

None of this was admissable in court, but it gave the investigators deep
background information. They of course shared this with their long-time
buddies, the police detectives.

We often forget that search warrants are needed only to collect evidence
that is admissable in court. They don't bother, however, to get warrants to
collect information that will not be used in court.  They just do it.