Federal Court Rules that Police Can Obtain Location Data w/o Warrant

[InbetweenDreams]

So a Federal Appeals Court in VA ruled that law enforcement can obtain location data from cell phone towers without a warrant. The loophole is that the cell towers are by a 3rd party and that people can't assume that the data should be protected. Of course all the law makers and police claim that this will be used for good of course, to catch the bad guys. To reduce the likelihood of abuse a court order must be obtained, they just have to say it's for a criminal investigation. However, I feel that in many cases the system will get abused. Court system is pretty dirty if you ask me. It's a business, issue speeding tickets and harass citizens at their leisure.

http://www.citizensforcriminaljustice.ne...r-records/

[matty7]

to be honest , we are tracked constantly through car registration plate recognition technology , facial recognition cameras , surveillance cameras , speeding cameras - the cookies on your computer , Need I go on - you may as well accept that the governments of the world know your every movement , its better than giving yourself an ulcer worrying about it

[InbetweenDreams]

Oh not getting an ulcer worrying about it but I disagree with the ruling. I don't like the level of data that is being collected from almost everyone on a daily basis and how it can be retrieved without a warrant because it won't stop with cell phone data. Pretty soon they'll be contacting Google and Microsoft to get search data and browsing history, because that is also a 3rd party. Not sure how folks in the UK feel about their expectation of privacy or rather if they trust their government. I think it is pretty popular to not trust the government or law enforcement in the US. Not saying everyone is crooked, but there's definitely that group that gives them a bad name.

[Insertnamehere]

Of course it will get abused. Power will always be abused. You fight it or accept that it is how it is.

Fighting is tiring.

[InbetweenDreams]

That is all true. However, if no one were to fight tyranny and corruption then we would all be living very short, painful and miserable lives. I don't know why more people aren't bugged at all about this. Is this normal to go on in other countries. Now I know about all the cameras and license plate recognition and so on...thankfully I live in a rural area where virtually none of that is in play.

[Insertnamehere]

I'm a number in my country, not a person. That number was assigned to me upon my presentation at the Civilian Registration Office so my parents could have a birth certificate issued. That number identifies everything I do.

I don't know how the government uses that information. I haven't ever done anything against the law and consequentially I haven't ever suffered any law enforcement, faced jail time or had any of my basic civil rights stomped upon.

As long that remains the situation, I won't be concerned.

Governments will always try to control what you do to suit their interests. You fight it, either on the ballots or the less friendly approach of becoming a subversive element. I prefer the first.

[InbetweenDreams]

Well not to go down conspiracy theory lane but the amount of data that is being collected by governments, corporations and so forth you can learn a lot about controlling a population. I mean for instance, everyone is all torn about Mr. Trump and carrying on about evil liberals. Some of the remarks are disgusting and infuriating. Take Facebook, their systems are able to determine what people are reacting to in realtime and are able to get very detailed information about the reactions like every time someone shares a news story about the killing of the gorilla. Once you figure out that formula you can pretty much predict how people will react, so well that you can predict how an individual will react. I recall hearing about software that will predict the next thing you will say with pretty good accuracy.

Although, a bit off topic from my gripe about the cell tower ordeal, the point here is if they can predict what someone will do then governments and corporations can stay one step ahead, whether it is controlling you or getting you to buy more crap you don't need.

But back to the cell phone location data. I don't think it is right for law enforcement to have ability to be able to track where someone has been without a warrant. There needs to be something else in place, some sort of limitation in place.

[Emiliano]

It's not cool, I agree with you. It almost seems like police get away with very disturbing things in this country.

[InbetweenDreams]

It's not cool, I agree with you. It almost seems like police get away with very disturbing things in this country.

True and the door also swings both ways too, a lot of policemen get shot at and killed and a lot of them don't make a lot of money, not nearly enough to be shot it...well same for out military personnel. There's really no singular argument that is totally right...unless it's mathematics (I'm staying rational here...pun intended).

[JohnMusic]

Police kill people and get away with it. Mostly blacks and hispanics. And they have been known to pretty much beat up homeless people. You can look at a few good cops and think the whole system isnt fucked up but that is delusional.