"The type of information being accessed can be broad, the companies reported, including call histories, where those calls were made — known as “geolocation” — and in some cases even the content of the calls."
And after we were told by this good government they were not doing that.
"Cellphone firms regularly give data to law enforcement; Big providers give authorities records of calls, locations" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff, December 09, 2013
WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest wireless companies regularly give state and local law enforcement authorities thousands of records of cellphone calls and customer locations gleaned from cellphone towers, part of a dramatic expansion of domestic surveillance to investigate crimes, according to new industry statistics provided to Congress.
After we were $old, I mean told, it was all to catch terrorists -- who always turn out to be a covert intelligence operation -- way back when, remember?
Last year alone, law enforcement agencies nationwide accessed individual cellphone records well over a million times, according to data from the eight largest wireless providers.
The three biggest — Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T — also reported that on at least 56,400 occasions they received so-called “emergency” requests from police departments that did not require a warrant or court order.
The heavy reliance on personal cellphone data as an investigative tool — Verizon reported it has seen such requests double in the past five years — is raising new concerns among lawmakers and privacy groups already worried about allegations that the National Security Agency is scooping up the phone calls of innocent Americans in the name of fighting terrorism.
I hate to say it, but I was warning about such things years ago and others long before that. But we were dismissed, marginalized, called crazy, and once again proven prophetic. Of course, that is why you are here, dear reader.
The new data will be released Monday by Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, as part of a two-year effort to determine whether new guidelines are required in the digital age to protect personal privacy.
Related: Boston Globe December 10, 2013
I didn't see a follow-up.
Just another one-day wonder down the old propaganda pre$$ memory hole, 'eh?
“There has been a lot of focus on NSA but this is something very different,” Markey said in an interview. “These are neighborhood police departments or state police or federal agencies requesting your data. Millions of Americans are having their information swept up in digital dragnets and there are serious questions about how law enforcement handles the information.”
Duh-duh-duh-duh! Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh! Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh!
Not really a laughing matter.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and Cricket, one of the smaller wireless carriers, did not respond to requests for comment Sunday afternoon. T-Mobile spokesman Glenn Zaccara told the Globe that the company would consider any new proposed privacy protections.
“We will have to wait and see,” he said. “Of course, we will follow any laws enacted.”
Earlier, the companies submitted written answers to Markey, saying they are not aware of any abuses of the information they shared.
And they can't say even if they were aware. It's the law.
Law enforcement agencies have reported in recent years that cellphones are proving to be a key tool in the digital age, in which mobile communications devices track not only phone calls but where those calls are made from. Cellphone data help identify possible suspects and ultimately open up new lines of investigation — and thus help solve crimes.
And the propaganda pre$$ has gotten the society hooked on them! People feel naked without their gadgets, and thank God I'm somehow immune to such $hit.
Several law enforcement associations were not immediately available to comment Sunday on the information being released this week.
The extent of the new practice is cause for alarm, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group in Washington.
I thought so; that is why I'm posting it.
“The mass collection of cell tower information by law enforcement agencies poses a real risk to cellphone users,” he said. “Police should be able to get necessary information for a particular investigation pursuant to a court order, but that is not the current practice. Instead everything on everybody is routinely turned over.”
As I have suspected for years.
He said his organization is seeking regulatory changes that would update federal privacy laws.
The information provided to Markey by the cellphone providers was not broken down geographically. Where the volume of law enforcement requests is highest is not known.
The type of information being accessed can be broad, the companies reported, including call histories, where those calls were made — known as “geolocation” — and in some cases even the content of the calls.
****************************
Verizon, in its written response to Markey’s staff, explained that the number of law enforcement requests “has approximately doubled in the last five years, a trend that appears to be consistent with the industry in general.”
Among the newest tools for law enforcement is to gain access to so-called “cell tower dumps,” the broad range of information — such as call histories of users in the vicinity — recorded when mobile phones give off a signal to nearby cell towers....
The data allow law enforcement to know all the cell users in a geographic area during a specific period of time, ranging from a few minutes to several hours or even days or weeks. The data can often be useful for law enforcement to track a potential suspect who flees the scene of a crime.
What, not enough cameras yet?
Yet the ability to collect such tower data is relatively new....
Or finding it in the propaganda pre$$ is.
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