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minilinks for 2008-08-14 - Via EFF.org Updates: read more »
- Oops! FBI Sorry For Spying on Journalists FBI Director Robert Mueller called the NY Times and the Washington Post to express regret for a breach of reporters' phone records.
- Google Comes Clean On Targeted AdvertisingThe Internet giant confessed to using DoubleClick cookies to deliver targeted advertising to users.
Police Turn to Secret Weapon: GPS Device - washingtonpost.com - Via washingtonpost.com :
Across the country, police are using GPS devices to snare thieves, drug dealers, sexual predators and killers, often without a warrant or court order. Privacy advocates said tracking suspects electronically constitutes illegal search and seizure, violating Fourth Amendment rights of protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and is another step toward George Orwell's Big Brother society. Law enforcement officials, when they discuss the issue at all, said GPS is essentially the same as having an officer trail someone, just cheaper and more accurate. Most of the time, as was done in the Foltz case, judges have sided with police.
With the courts' blessing, and the ever-declining cost of the technology, many analysts believe that police will increasingly rely on GPS as an effective tool in investigations and that the public will hear little about it. Last year, FBI agents used a GPS device while investigating an embezzlement scheme to steal from District taxpayers, attaching one to a suspect's Jaguar.
"I've seen them in cases from New York City to small towns -- whoever can afford to get the equipment and plant it on a car," said John Wesley Hall, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "And of course, it's easy to do. You can sneak up on a car and plant it at any time." read more »
Constitution Protects Location Information, CDT Argues - Via Center for Democracy and Technology:
In a July 31 amicus brief filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joined by CDT, ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, argued that cell phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment. The brief argues that a court should require the government to obtain a warrant based on probable cause in order to gain access to cell site location information stored by a cell phone company.
Amicus brief in In Re Application of United States [PDF] July 31, 2008
(Read Original Article - Via Center for Democracy and Technology.)
Involuntary Endogenous RFID Compliance Monitoring as a Condition of Federal Supervised Release--Chips Ahoy? - Via YJOLT | Yale Journal of Law & Technology - Volume 10, 2007-2008 Spring Issue :
By Isaac B. Rosenberg
Among the many cutting edge technologies law enforcement agencies increasingly covet is radio frequency identification (“RFID”). Researchers predict RFID will become the most pervasive computer technology in history. Among the more extraordinary and controversial government uses of RFID—and the focus of this Paper—include implantation of subdermal RFID transmitters. Privacy concerns abound. Not surprisingly, critics and privacy advocates are wary of subdermal RFID implants, fearful that only a fine line separates relatively innocuous, voluntary implantation from arbitrary government-mandated implantation. But for involuntary implantation of RFID chips to take root, government implantation programs would have to start on the small scale, targeting the most unsavory and repugnant members of society: convicted sex offenders. Sex offenders are the foremost targets of our nation’s “punitive zeal.” Some states have moved to chemically castrating certain types of sex offenders, while others have considered implementing lifetime GPS monitoring. read more »
GPS Tracking Device Beats Radar Gun in Court - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
MojoKid writes "According to a release issued by Rocky Mountain Tracking, an 18-year old man, Shaun Malone, was able to successfully contest a speeding ticket in court using the data from a GPS device installed in his car. This wasn't just any old make-a-left-turn-100-feet-ahead-onto-Maple-Street GPS; this was a vehicle-tracking GPS device — the kind used by trucking fleets — or in this case, overprotective parents. The device was installed in Malone's car by his parents, and the press release makes no mention if the teenager knew that the device was installed in his vehicle at the time."
DHS Official Considered Shock Collars For Air Travelers - Via Slashdot:
"The Washington Times is reporting that the DHS wants to replace your boarding pass with a GPS-enabled shock bracelet. Plans for the device include subduing passengers remotely as well as onboard interrogation. There's even a promotional video." Perhaps Paul Ruwaldt (the official named in this story) has been watching "The Coneheads" a bit too much, or not actually flying enough. Expressing interest is not quite the same as ordering mass quantities, but it's scary enough.
(Read Original Article - Via Slashdot.)
US Justice Dept. sued for info on cellular tracking practices - Via BetaNews >:
In purported efforts to help the public "understand the privacy risks of carrying a mobile phone," the ACLU and the EFF are suing the Justice Dept. for "documents, memos, and guides" about procedures used to track individuals through cell phones.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation aren't looking for money -- except to cover their own costs -- in their most recent lawsuit against the US Department of Justice. Instead, the two civil liberty advocacy groups want information about whether and how the government might be using the location capabilities in cell phones to find out where people are.
"The overwhelming majority of Americans -- over 200 million people -- carry mobile phones. This large number is steadily increasing. The information the ACLU seeks therefore bears on the privacy of a vast segment of the United States population," according to the complaint, which was submitted this week under the Freedom of Information Act.
"Recent court decisions and media reports reveal that US Attorneys Offices (USAOs) are assisting law enforcement officers in obtaining information from mobile carriers that enables officers to track the location of individuals' mobile phones," the document says. read more »
US Justice Dept. Sued For Cellular Tracking Information - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
tpaudio writes "The ACLU and the EFF are suing the Department of Justice over how the government might be using GPS and location data from cell phones. With over 200 million Americans carrying cell phones, this could be pretty important for setting guidelines. We have already seen other frightening powers related to cell phones, such as 'cell mic tapping.'"---
The ACLU press release is also available, and it contains links to the complaint and the Freedom of Information Act request. We've previously discussed instances of cell phone tracking in the US and elsewhere.
Surveilling Drivers For Safety, For The Environment, and For Profit - Via EFF.org Updates:
There is a growing movement to surveil the drivers of cars — for insurance purposes.
One idea is that vehicle insurance premiums should depend on verifiable, periodic measurements of how far a car has been driven. The case for such premiums is strong: driving further clearly increases the risk of an accident, and "Pay As You Drive" premiums would allow (some) drivers to pay less for insurance; would allow insurance companies to make higher profits; and would reduce the congestion, greenhouse emission and traffic accident costs that each mile driven causes for society.
Another idea is that vehicles should collect data on the way that they are being driven (location, speed, acceleration and braking patterns, type of roads, time of day, smoothness of steering, etc). These measurements can be used to identify good drivers, and offer them insurance discounts — or to spot dangerous drivers, charge them higher premiums and encourage them to take driving skills courses. The policy case for this kind of measurement may turn out to be strong too, though it is less well-established.
The problem with these proposals is that they are often accompanied by a technical proposal for a tracking device that sits in your car and transmits voluminous data over wireless or satellite links, so that insurance companies can decide how much to charge you. Many modern vehicles are already collecting this information, and the insurance industry just needs to get a copy of it. read more »
Police Blotter: Murderer nabbed via tracking, Web search - Via Privacy : Tech news from CNET :
What: Woman, sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering her husband, appeals on Fourth Amendment grounds. Conviction based in part on GPS tracking and her Internet searches.
When: Texas appeals court rules on March 13.
Outcome: Sentence upheld. read more »
Law-Checking WSJ Article on Domestic Spying - Via EFF: Deep Links:
The Wall Street Journal's detailed article on domestic spying (Wall Street Journal, NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data (March 10, 2008), p. A1) provides critical detail and confirmation of the NSA's wholesale acquisition of domestic communications, and helps us understand the Administration's word games. It also shows that the Administration is relying upon erroneous views of electronic communications privacy law, including some that contradict the Department of Justice's own published interpretations.
The article contains an infobox listing material that "the NSA can look at without a judicial warrant." Contrary to the NSA's claim, information like email subject lines, internet searches and cellphone location information all require a warrant under law. Moreover, even where a "probable cause" warrant is not necessary, the NSA still needs to obtain an appropriate court order. read more »
How Google Earth Ate Our Town - Via TIME magazine:
When they hear the telltale sirens of a fire truck bursting out of the station in Nanaimo, the locals don't need to look out of the window or tune in to newscasts to find out where the action is. Instead, they can simply log on to Google Maps or Google Earth and track the firefighters in real time as they tear down the streets of this Vancouver Island port community. The Google-enabling of Nanaimo's fire service, launched just weeks ago, is the latest venture in a British Columbia town that has been dubbed the capital of Google Earth.
"With Nanaimo, they have mapped nearly every conceivable thing using Google Earth and Google Maps," Michael Jones, Google Earth's chief technology officer, said last August at a conference in Vancouver. "Their citizens have more information about their city than the people of San Francisco." read more »
Nanaimo, The Google Capital of the World - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
eldavojohn writes "Time.com has up a story on Nanaimo, a British Columbia coal mining town of about 78,000 that has had everything conceivable mapped into a Google database. Citizens can track fire trucks real time. The results also include Google Earth data for Nanaimo. 'The Google fire service allows people to avoid accident sites by tuning electronic devices to automatic updates from the city's RSS news feed, says fire captain Dean Ford. read more »
Cellphones to Monitor Highway Traffic - Via Slashdot:
Roland Piquepaille writes "On February 8, 2008, about 100 UC Berkeley students will participate in the Mobile Century experiment, using GPS mobile phones as traffic sensors. During the whole day, these students carrying the GPS-equipped Nokia N95 will drive along a 10-mile stretch of I-880 between Hayward and Fremont, California. read more »
Mail That Never Gets Lost - Via :
A paper-thin GPS unit that could help the postal service put an end to mail delays
Even snail mail is getting a tech upgrade. This month TrackingtheWorld, a California-based GPS developer, expects to begin mass-producing Letter Loggers—small GPS-equipped envelope inserts that could help the U.S. Postal Service spot bottlenecks in the system. The insert is durable enough to shoot through sorting machines without crushing the circuits. read more »
Students to feel safe with RFID and GPS-Based solution from AT&T - Via The RFID Weblog:
AT&T is keen on targeting the K - 12 education sector and for this purpose it has come up with an interoperable RFID and GPS based mobile resource management solution. The solution is expected to help in ensuring a better control over vehicles of the institutions, enhance safety of the students, bring down costs and increase staff productivity. This is the first network services company which has come forward to offer an integrated RFID and MRM solution for educational sector. read more »
NORAD tracks Santa with Google - Via Official Google Blog :
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!We're counting down the hours until Santa's flight around the world. On Monday, December 24th, starting at 1 am PST, visit noradsanta.org to track Santa
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