What is Digg?51 Comments
- shinythings, on 11/23/2007, -4/+25What's that smell? Smells like my rights are going to be violated... a rather pungent smell if you ask me.
- joshuaer, on 11/23/2007, -5/+24Tracking people is a fine as long as you get a court order and the Judge sees proof and a need to track the person. I could see it helping the police in allot of ways but at the same time it is a little freaky. I have a GPS Cell and every now and then i think mmm i wonder if some guy at Verizon watches me go about my day.
- OrangeCrush, on 11/23/2007, -0/+12No, it isn't okay even if the government sticks to tracing "bad guys." They're not following due process. People are presumed innocent until proven otherwise by a court of law. Allowing individuals to be tracked like this without probable cause means any federal official can get warrants for anybody they want by just saying they're suspected of trafficking in drugs while offering up no evidence to back up that suspicion. Allowing them to use the principle of "because we say so" puts us all at risk.
- NotAChickenHawk, on 11/23/2007, -4/+16Don't have a problem with this, as long as there is a legal and proper warrant. But, if there are judges that are not fulfilling their responsibility of making the govt. demonstrate some sort of reasonable probable cause before issuing the warrant, then I do have a problem with those judges.
- faskill, on 11/23/2007, -2/+11You mean if one person says its ok for another person to track me for no other reason than the person asked to track me, then yes. Even if you aren't for privacy and are pro-securiyt, tracking people won't necessarily prevent crime. They have red light cameras for people running red lights. If a person wants to run the red light, they still will. They have cameras in convenient stores that show wonderful footage of them getting robbed. If someone wants to traffic drugs or commit acts of terrorism, they still will. Monitoring cell phones isn't going to prevent anything. It *can* provide proof that something *might* have happened a certain way. I know what rights are written down on paper that should be granted to me. I also know what rights I am entitled to being a human being.
- demonsnake69, on 11/23/2007, -0/+8Using cellphones to track criminals as long as probable cause, proper evidence and all that jazz is provide = GOOD!
Using cellphones to track random people who may or may not be doing anything wrong = BAD!
If anyone here watches The Wire they'll know cellphone tracking isn't going to work for smarter, more ruthless criminals. - catbeller, on 11/23/2007, -0/+7Everyone (except me, of course, as I nurse a pre-2005 phone) can be tracked, eventually everyone will be tracked. It isn't the real time tracking that's dangerous, it's the logs that they could keep. You could be charged for an armed robbery that happened a year ago because they datamined the gps logs and determined you were the only one in the area -- or can convince a jury of that, Reality doesn't enter the realm of prosecution, not if you are unwealthy. Let's think also of the political warfare they can wage against their enemies, tracking a political activist or candidate to a mistress's house or say, dropping a dime on your girlfriend to let her know where you were last Saturday.
You think me nuts? J. Edgar Hoover used to play recordings of Martin Luther King having sex with women to amuse his visitors. Nixon used wiretaps, the IRS, anything he could get his lying paws on to destroy his enemies. You think Bush, or PRESIDENT Cheney will stop at anything after we've witnessed all that they've done so far? - betasp, on 11/23/2007, -1/+7"In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime."
If it is secret, how do they really know. - spyd3rweb, on 11/23/2007, -0/+5They've done this for years without warrants.
- mal1964, on 11/23/2007, -0/+5Its not a secret to criminals, their cell phone have no link to them.
- TheFoolyCooly, on 11/23/2007, -1/+6"warrantless wiretapping" and "secret warrants" are the tip of the iceberg people. The only way to stop the madness is a huge reform
- catbeller, on 11/23/2007, -0/+5I'm old enough to remember where that notion started. It was 1999, and it was a notion brought to a lawsuit by a lawyer whose client died of a brain tumor. He simply stipulated that the phone did it. He lost the case, 'cause he pulled the "fact" out of his ass. But the legend is now unkillable. NO evidence, none, supports the notion.
- skews13, on 11/23/2007, -0/+4i told everyone that these people were never looking for terrorists to begin with.anyone who believed that ***** for a minuite,is a total ***** moron.these people have a sexual fetish about substance use.they know they can't stop the use.so they have to use any back door method they can find to continue there losing battle.which is the actions of someone whose cause is not just.ask yourself this question.what would these ***** losers,and criminals do for a living if they didn't have the "drug war" to fight?
- williamdyer, on 11/23/2007, -0/+4The Constitution never "offered" anything. It lists the legitimate functions of government. If it isn't in there, it isn't a legitimate government function. Everything else is your rights. Read Amendments IX and X. It spells it out.
- rhabd0mancer, on 11/23/2007, -1/+5They must be Bush appointees.
- blankman, on 11/23/2007, -0/+4or the bad guys could just remove their cell phone batteries when doing illegal things
- williamdyer, on 11/23/2007, -1/+5Secret warrant for cases that are not national security related? That's waaaaay out of bounds. Someone should hang for this.
- fotbr, on 11/23/2007, -0/+4prepaid, paid in cash. have fun tracking those.
- ff1959, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3That's what I am talking about. Keep voting those fascist losers into power! Soon you'll be tracked everywhere. Da! - sings Russian national anthem. Don't people UNDERSTAND about loss of freedoms? The Adamses and Franklins are turning over in their graves. I was at my neighbors house when he got served with papers from his soon-to-be ex-wife ... by a gun-toting Sheriff. Served by a gun-toting Nazi, supported by those fascists in power. Of course, everyone will jump up and down saying the Sheriff or his deputy need to "protect" themselves - but not from my neighbor and not from me. I don't advocate anarchy, but I do advocate electing freedom-loving individuals into law-making positions.
- Soofi, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3The capability to track cellphone location has been around since the dawn of the cellphone, but we are only now beginning to understand the implications as the technology is being used in new contexts with network operators keen to cash in. There are sometimes good uses for enabling tracking, for example, in the UK here we have services such as 'MapQuest' (for getting directions) and other location based interactivity, 'Where is the nearest ATM, cinema, restaurant etc?'. There are even services now dedicated to help locate and track the whereabouts of your employees, family members etc - but this is going to be opening up a new avenue of abuse which we haven't fully realized yet. The companies involved are usually using meager security measures, such as sending a text message request for confirmation of the tracking service to the phone being tracked. It may seem reasonable on appearance, but most people who for example want to spy on their spouse usually have access to their phones and could enable the service without you ever realizing. If you don't have access to the physical device to reply to the confirmation message, you can also use an online service to send an 'SMS Spoof' which appears to be coming from the cellphone you want to track. How do I know this? I've been researching the topic recently due to some prank calls and messages being received by a family friend and I was asked to help locate the culprit who is thought to the be known to the victim. Along the way I learnt that, for example, if you knew the cellphone number of a twitter user, you could spoof an sms message and post it on their page.
Government agencies and people in positions of power, when there is opportunity for abuse, you can expect it - don't be surprised when you hear about it. But for some reason, I don't feel too concerned about that as much as I do about this capability being opened to the general public at large. The random people in these agencies who don't know you or have any affiliation with you probably couldn't care less where you've been going throughout the day - but a disgruntled or suspicious friend, spouse, relative etc.. the people who know you are probably more likely to be snooping around on you.
I've read stories of certain police forces even getting in on the action. For example, they spoofed an SMS message to a drug dealer as if it came from one of his acquaintances telling him to bring the stash to a certain location, and then busting him when he arrived. These kinds of stories and new forms of phishing are only going to increase, I don't see them going away any time soon. Only thing you can do is to be informed and understand the context. - republicker, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3At least they still cant tell if you have a glock in your pocket.
- zehrila, on 11/23/2007, -7/+10This one is going to be huge controversy, Its ok as long as Govt sticks with tracing bad guys but i can understand contrary others point of views as well.
- catbeller, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3Phone companies could be ordered to stipulate that actions that preclude tracking will be cause for termination of service, and blacklisting of service to any other company. That's their first move to keep you from doing so. New move: wiring the backup battery to the mainboard so you can't shut off the signal.
Cutting off the battery today could be presented to a jury as an admission of guilt by action of denial of legal signal tracking for law enforcement purposes. Or whatever they might call it. Doesn't have to be logical. The jury always assumes the prosecutor is not malicious. Taking the battery out, or as I do, putting the phone in a metal case to kill the signal, will very shortly be prima facie evidence of guilt. - carpespasm, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3and if your calling pattern is all to other prepaid cells and your only calls to name-tracable lines are made from public pay phones?
- williamdyer, on 11/23/2007, -0/+3Or they could hire a courier to carry an envelope with their cell phone in it to their lawyer's office and establish an alibi.
- NoobieDoobieDo, on 11/23/2007, -2/+4This country sucks.
Can you guess why ?
/If you answered "because of the people in it" you are correct. - williamdyer, on 11/23/2007, -0/+2Only if you keep swapping SIMs. Otherwise you will be tracked by your calling pattern.
- arcangelgabriel, on 11/23/2007, -0/+1if anyone here watches The Wire and thinks that it's real police work, then I'm scared.
- carpespasm, on 11/23/2007, -0/+1doesn't mean those doing it still shouldn't be canned for it.
- mattewood, on 11/25/2007, -0/+1Amerika! ***** yeah!
- MadN, on 11/23/2007, -0/+1I cannot say where, but some secure buildings require leaving cell phones out side; even a cell phone with the battery removed is not secure.
Powered off and the battery removed, and you are still not secure. - AlanJV, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1Oh joy, so nice to see the court system failing us now, too. The Govt should ALWAYS have to show probable cause, instead of giving them warrants under these "lower standards."
- fixedcoma, on 11/24/2007, -0/+1CELL PHONE=RFID Need i say more!
- kernel16, on 11/23/2007, -1/+2The criminals would be like big tabaco companies, killing addicted people legally.
- DHels13, on 12/05/2007, -0/+0the tracking can also be used for good things, besides the good of catching criminals. Finding abducted teens, avalanche victims that are in range of cell towers, if your not doing anything wrong the loss of privacy shouldn't be a big deal.
- williamdyer, on 11/23/2007, -1/+1Take the battery out.
- bonkers217, on 11/27/2007, -0/+0Yes, they want us to give up even more privacy!!! Although cell phone tracking devices can be helpful in rare situations, I'd rather not be tracked down by anyone.
- arsenic0, on 11/24/2007, -0/+0This is probably one of the dumbest posts i have ever read on Digg..
Your mad because a sheriff served your neighbor divorce papers and he was wearing his regulation gun?
Its not like he pointed the gun at the guys head and shoved the papers down his throat geezus christ...some people.. - gbak39, on 12/04/2007, -0/+0With added security often comes a decrease in privacy. I fear that warrants will be issued too easily which will allow unnecessary tracking of law abiding citizens. In cases where probable cause exists, the technology should be used to pinpoint those drug dealers and serial killers that the article speaks of.
- tiraid, on 11/23/2007, -2/+0I agree with this. As long as it requires two branches of government, we are getting our checks and balances. Things may still go wrong, but these are glitches.
- georgemason01, on 11/23/2007, -9/+4Not only is it easy to use cell phones for spying and location tracking (even without a warrant), but they've also been linked to causing brain tumors. Possible solutions are minimizing your cell phone use, using a headset, or ideally not using one at all.
Also a little tip, if you don't want your location to be trackable (for whatever you may be doing that you want to remain private), turn off the phone and take out the SIM card. - tiraid, on 11/23/2007, -7/+1You are asking for more than the constitution ever offered. If the executive and the judicial branches both want you monitored, than they may do so. Let's not take our tin-foil hat wearing too far.
- NoobieDoobieDo, on 11/23/2007, -8/+1Spammer. How do you get SOOOO MANNNNY stories on the front page of Digg.
One can only wonder. - inactive, on 11/23/2007, -13/+3You mean if the judge grants a warrant it's still a violation of your rights?
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