Police Tap Sprint Customers' GPS Data 8,000,000+ Times

[The Interpreter]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.c ... hp?ref=fpb

[genlock]

Is it Sprint customers' GPS data or does it really belong to Sprint Inc?
Is there something in Sprint INC license that mandates sharing of the data?
Maybe Sprint is trying to be a good corporate citizen.

[The Interpreter]

a. Sprint is probably far from alone in sharing this data.

b. Being a good corporate citizen? Perhaps that would help to make up for their beyond lousy customer service?

[cgarison]

So the simple solution is to purchase a cell phone that uses a prepaid card so that you do not have a record of being tied to a particular cell phone company and then exercise the burner option and change out the sim cards regularly.

Note this option will not work on Verizon as they do not use sim cards. I do not know what Sprint is like because Nextel had sim cards 5 years ago byt Sprint used phones like Verizon and Alltel.

As for me, I don't care if at&t is giving my data to the police because I have nothing to hide.

[Lester]

As for me, I don't care if at&t is giving my data to the police because I have nothing to hide.

I used to think the same way, if they're searching my GPS data with "just cause". With 8 million accesses though, that doesn't sound like just cause is being practiced.

Here's the difference.

With just cause "We think KYJ may have done <event>. Run his GPS data and let's see if he was in the area."

Without just cause "We just had <event>. Run all phone carriers available GPS data and see who was near by."

So, you may not have done anything wrong... but you're now a person of interest because you were "in the area". And legal history is full of cases where an overzealous DA pursued the wrong person for the wrong reasons.

[cgarison]

As for me, I don't care if at&t is giving my data to the police because I have nothing to hide.

I used to think the same way, if they're searching my GPS data with "just cause". With 8 million accesses though, that doesn't sound like just cause is being practiced.

Here's the difference.

With just cause "We think KYJ may have done <event>. Run his GPS data and let's see if he was in the area."

Without just cause "We just had <event>. Run all phone carriers available GPS data and see who was near by."

So, you may not have done anything wrong... but you're now a person of interest because you were "in the area". And legal history is full of cases where an overzealous DA pursued the wrong person for the wrong reasons.

Considering my pad is in Philly, I am pretty sure that I have already been a victim of the latter example with the quality of investigative work performed by Philly's finest.

[Bob Campbell]

Well, if you supported the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping you can't really complain about this. Makes me glad I have an old phone with no GPS in it. And why my passport was accidentally laid on an old magnetic cart eraser for a few minutes.

[genlock]

The last post was forwarded to someone in the NSA.

[fearpeddler]

sprint doesnt use simm cards, or at least last time I checked they still weren't..

[cgarison]

Well, if you supported the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping you can't really complain about this.

It sure as hell beats the use of a secret court that issues warrants without the knowledge of elected officials or the general public.

Oh. Wait. The Patriot Act made those possible as well.

[genlock]

Where are all the politicians who were complaining about the patriot act before the election?
I am talking about the ones who voted for the patriot act and then complained about it.
Those guys are in the majority now and could do whatever they want with it.


BTW: we have had the secret courts since before Truman, In one form or another.

[Bob Campbell]

There is definitely a time and a place for secret courts. Sometimes it really is necessary. At least with a court, secret or not, there is due process and a record that can be made public if the situation warrants (no pun intended).

Hey, I was just kidding about the phone and passport thing. I would NEVER do anything like that. Besides, it was an accident. The first time.

[AmpedNow]

There is definitely a time and a place for secret courts. Sometimes it really is necessary. At least with a court, secret or not, there is due process and a record that can be made public if the situation warrants (no pun intended).

How about trying and hanging these non-US citizen terrorist combatants we capture in battle on the spot, instead of dragging them into the US court system and making them worldwide celebrities...

In that case, I'm all for shutting down Gitmo. There wouldn't be any need for it. Don't give them the chance to live one day on the taxpayer dole if they're caught in battle. Try and hang them on the spot. Send the video of them swinging by their necks to Al-Jazeera. Case closed.

As for Sprint, all carriers can triangulate every call and data request on their system to within 100 feet of a specific location, GPS phone or not. That's old tech...

GPS just makes their jobs easier.

Also, virtually any cell phone less than 6 years old continuously pings GPS coordinates for 911 purposes.

If you really never want to be found, don't carry a cell phone at all.

[Ace Purple]

And legal history is full of cases where an overzealous DA pursued the wrong person for the wrong reasons.

Isn't that the sad truth...

[Bob Campbell]

There is definitely a time and a place for secret courts. Sometimes it really is necessary. At least with a court, secret or not, there is due process and a record that can be made public if the situation warrants (no pun intended).

How about trying and hanging these non-US citizen terrorist combatants we capture in battle on the spot, instead of dragging them into the US court system and making them worldwide celebrities...

In that case, I'm all for shutting down Gitmo. There wouldn't be any need for it. Don't give them the chance to live one day on the taxpayer dole if they're caught in battle. Try and hang them on the spot. Send the video of them swinging by their necks to Al-Jazeera. Case closed.

All fun and games, but then we'd BE them wouldn't we? I always thought we were supposed to be better than that. That's what so many of our men and women are dying for isn't it? Well, I guess it could have been worse. You could have written that today.

[genlock]

Instead of hollering in Arabic for them to come out of the hole and surrender,
Chuck in a grenade. Or two.

[The Interpreter]

It's threads like this one that keep me coming back here, day after day.

There's no other place quite like this one.

[Lester]

All fun and games, but then we'd BE them wouldn't we? I always thought we were supposed to be better than that. That's what so many of our men and women are dying for isn't it? Well, I guess it could have been worse. You could have written that today.

I guess you missed the part where he said "try". There in lies the difference.

[cgarison]

Instead of hollering in Arabic for them to come out of the hole and surrender,
Chuck in a grenade. Or two.

That's the middle eastern equivalent to horse shoes, isn't it???



Ah. Close enough.

[AmpedNow]

All fun and games, but then we'd BE them wouldn't we? I always thought we were supposed to be better than that. That's what so many of our men and women are dying for isn't it? Well, I guess it could have been worse. You could have written that today.

That's pretty much what we did with Saddam's sons, leaving their corpses on public view in an air conditioned tent for a week.

You may find this hard to believe, but they don't give two rips about our infidel court system. Since Allah is not in our courts, they're meaningless to them.

They won't respect us, no matter how many times Obama runs off to Cairo begging them to. The next best thing is fear.

When Al-Qaeda underlings see their field commander swinging by a noose on TV, and they know that they are next if our military finds them, let them all shit their garbs.

Taking the ones we captured to court won't keep the others still out there on the run like the rats they are in that mountain cave maze.

Send over some more daisy cutters. Drop them on their heads as they're running.