Telling Friends Where You Are (or Not): Via NYTimes.com .

Mobile services like Loopt and Google’s Latitude have promoted the notion of constantly beaming your location to a map that is visible to a network of friends — an idea that is not for everybody.

But now there is a different approach, one that is being popularized by Foursquare.

After firing up the Foursquare application on their phones, users see a list of nearby bars, restaurants and other places, select their location and “check in,” sending an alert to friends using the service.

This model, which may be more attractive than tracking because it gives people more choice in revealing their locations, is gathering speed in the Internet industry. Yelp, the popular site that compiles reviews of restaurants and other businesses, recently added a check-in feature to its cellphone application. And Facebook is expected to take a similar approach when it introduces location features to its 400 million users in coming months. [ Read more ... ]

The Cell Phone Network: Law Enforcement's Surveillance Dream: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Yesterday, WNYC's On the Media (OTM) profiled our cell phone tracking case. In this case, the ACLU, Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked the court to require that the government at least show probable cause before it can ask a wireless provider to fork over information about your whereabouts using GPS or cell tower tracking via your cell phone. We won in the district court (PDF); the government appealed that decision to the 3rd Circuit. [ Read more ... ]

Location Data Sensitive Like Medical Information, Says Congressional Witness: Via NYTimes.com .

"The writing is on the wall that there will be baseline privacy legislation introduced," said John Morris, general counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology at a Congressional hearing on location data and privacy yesterday. "It will require location be treated as sensitive data, like medical data. You'll need to do more than just post a disclosure statement."

We're entering an era of location as platform but should that location data be as fundamentally private by default as medical information is?

Many users are concerned about their location being exposed in ways they don't control and that have adverse impacts on their safety and freedom. That's one side of the debate. [ Read more ... ]

EPIC Urges Congress to Adopt Privacy Safeguards for Locational Data: Via EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center .

Today, EPIC submitted comments for an upcoming joint hearing on "The Collection and Use of Location Information for Commercial Purposes." EPIC cited the growing uses of location data for advertising and tracking purposes, typically without any legal protections, and noted widespread support among US and European consumer organizations for clear protections. EPIC recommended that Congress establish strong rules, similar to those in the European Union Eprivacy Directive, that would give users meaningful control over their locational data. EPIC had previously recommended that the F.C.C. establish guidelines for the protection of users' locational privacy. For more information, see EPIC: CPNI.

Read Original Article:(Via EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center .)

FBI Tracks Suspects' Cell Phones Without a Warrant: Via Newsweek.com .

Law enforcement is tracking Americans' cell phones in real time—without the benefit of a warrant.

But many federal magistrates—whose job is to sign off on search warrants and handle other routine court duties—were spooked by the requests. Some in New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas balked. Prosecutors "were using the cell phone as a surreptitious tracking device," said Stephen W. Smith, a federal magistrate in Houston. "And I started asking the U.S. Attorney's Office, 'What is the legal authority for this? What is the legal standard for getting this information?' "

Those questions are now at the core of a constitutional clash between President Obama's Justice Department and civil libertarians alarmed by what they see as the government's relentless intrusion into the private lives of citizens. [ Read more ... ]

Cell Phone Users: Your Privacy is at Risk: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

(Originally posted on Philly.com)

If you own a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a case scheduled to be argued in federal appeals court in Philadelphia tomorrow. It could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you — even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology will ask the court to require that the government at least show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.

Although most people don't realize it, cell phones double as tracking devices. Newer phones contain GPS chips, the same technology that allows car navigation systems to know where you are and give directions ("Turn right now"). But even older phones that don't have chips can be tracked by knowing the location of the cell towers they use to connect to a network. [ Read more ... ]

GPS Tracking: Turning Science Fiction Into Reality: Via Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.

As a fan of the The Wire, I can find lots of plot twists and exciting scenes that illustrate the basic constitutional balance between the rights of individuals and the power of law enforcement. The Wire portrays police who follow the rules and those who don't as they wiretap, search, photograph and otherwise conduct their investigations into complex criminal cases.

In one episode, Detective Leander Snydor has followed a drug dealer to a house which might link him to other criminal relationships. Snydor skillfully walks past the dealer's car, fixes a GPS tracking system to the underside of the vehicle, and walks away with a whistle.

That might seem like smart cop work when aimed at an enormous, fictional drug ring in the mean streets of Baltimore. But GPS is no longer HBO fiction. In Madison, Wisconsin, where law enforcement agents used GPS to track someone suspected of violating a restraining order without first getting a warrant, it's very, very real. Unfortunately, according to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, we should let go of the expectation that police need permission to track our movements. [ Read more ... ]

EFF to Wisconsin: Just Say No to Warrantless GPS Tracking: Via EFF.org Updates.

ACLU National, ACLU of Wisconsin, and EFF have filed an amicus brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court arguing that the law of that state prohibits police from installing a GPS device on you or your car without first getting a warrant from a judge. A growing number of state high courts have decided that their citizens should be protected from suspicionless GPS tracking, recognizing that uninterrupted around-the-clock surveillance is qualitatively different from ordinary police observations of a suspect. In the Wisconsin case, People v. Sveum, we ask the court to follow the example of Washington, New York, and Massachusetts and find that GPS tracking is a search that requires a warrant. EFF participated as amicus in the New York case, People v. Weaver, and is awaiting a decision under the federal Constitution in U.S. v. Jones, a GPS tracking case pending in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. [ Read more ... ]

Cellular user privacy at risk: Via Philadelphia Inquirer .

If you own a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a case scheduled to be argued in federal appeals court in Philadelphia tomorrow. It could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you - even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology will ask the court to require that the government at least show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.

Although most people don't realize it, cell phones double as tracking devices. Newer phones contain GPS chips, [ Read more ... ]

FTC Roundtable: Technology's Impact on Privacy: Via CDT - Center for Democracy & Technology.

In her opening remarks at the second of the FTC’s roundtables in its Exploring Privacy series, FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour was characteristically observant in noting that the mobile space is “crying out for greater privacy.” She reminded us of the 100,000 mobile apps that have been developed for just one mobile platform (the iPhone) among many, but aptly noted that “there’s no app” to give users greater control over their mobile data and the ways that data generated by mobile devices can be used for consumer tracking. Across all the most popular mobile applications platforms (including iPhone and Android), there are nearly 3000 location-based applications, and surely only a fraction, if any, are designed to enhance location privacy rather than invade it. [ Read more ... ]

12 Trends to Watch in 2010: Via EFF.org Updates.

It's the dawn of a new year. From our perch on the frontier of electronic civil liberties, EFF has collected a list of a dozen important trends in law, technology and business that we think will play a significant role in shaping online rights in 2010.

In December, we'll revisit this post and see how it all worked out. [ Read more ... ]

Is Google's Nexus One phone any good? : Via |Technology |The Guardian(UK).

Above all, though, you are stepping through a portal into Google's world. On first use, the phone prompts you to log into your Google account – within seconds it has synchronised your email, web searches, contacts book and any other information you happen to keep with the company. Convenient for you, but also – thanks to the constant stream of data being fed back to California – handy for Google. You're now a satellite-tracked, walking, talking, web-surfing recruit into Google's informationalised army. [ Read more ... ]

Bank Thieves Foiled by GPS-Spiked Cash: Via Threat Level.

Forget exploding dye packs. Three thieves who made off with about $9,000 in cash from a bank were thwarted by a GPS device inserted in the cash that led authorities straight to their door, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Timothy Rucker, 33, Phillip Griffen, 31, and Brandon Barnes, 25, entered a branch of the TCF Bank on Dec. 30 with their faces concealed and pointed a gun at a teller, demanding cash.

The three made off with a nylon bag full of money. But unknown to them, the bag also contained two GPS-tracking devices hidden among the bills.

Signals from the devices led police to the home of one of the suspect’s parents, where the thieves were arrested about an hour after the robbery. [ Read more ... ]

Big Facebook privacy void: Controls on Connect: Via The Social - CNET News.

Privacy on Facebook has been front and center this month as the company has rolled out the controversial revamp of its user privacy settings. One thing that's thankfully stayed intact has been the ability to restrict the third-party applications on your profile to specific "lists" of friends--so that you can, for example, block your Mafia Wars activity from everyone who's not on your "People Who Know About My Mafia Wars Addiction" list.

But for stuff on my profile that was published through Facebook Connect rather than an app "built" on the platform, this is not the case. For some reason, information published to Facebook through Facebook Connect does not have any privacy controls attached to it, so it's either available to everybody or nobody. [ Read more ... ]

NORAD TRACKS SANTA 2008 - International (English, Deutsch, Espanol, Italiano, Francais, 中文, 日本語, ): Via The North Pole

All the preparations for this year are in place! Return on Christmas Eve to track St. Nick on his magical flight around the world!

Until then, come back each day to receive updates from the North Pole and to discover new surprises in the Kids' Countdown.

And you can get a little history about this from Wikipedia. And for those of you who prefer making phone calls the official hotline: 1-877-HI-NORAD Google Analytics also has some details about this tracking program. [ Read more ... ]

Yahoo Issues Takedown Notice for Spying Price List: Via Threat Level.

Yahoo isn’t happy that a detailed menu of the spying services it provides law enforcement agencies has leaked onto the web.

Shortly after Threat Level reported this week that Yahoo had blocked the FOIA release of its law enforcement and intelligence price list, someone provided a copy of the company’s spying guide to the whistleblower site Cryptome.

The 17-page guide describes Yahoo’s data retention policies and the surveillance capabilities it can provide law enforcement, with a pricing list for these services. Cryptome also published lawful data-interception guides for Cox Communications, SBC, Cingular, Nextel, GTE and other telecoms and service providers. [ Read more ... ]

Sprint Provides U.S. Law Enforcement with Cell Phone Customer Location Data: Via Schneier on Security.

Wired summarizes research by Christopher Soghoian:

Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with customer location data more than 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009, according to a company manager who disclosed the statistic at a non-public interception and wiretapping conference in October.

The manager also revealed the existence of a previously undisclosed web portal that Sprint provides law enforcement to conduct automated "pings" to track users. Through the website, authorized agents can type in a mobile phone number and obtain global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the phone.

From Soghoian's blog: [ Read more ... ]

Soghoian: 8 Million Reasons for Real Surveillance Oversight: Via Freedom to Tinker.

If you're interested at all in surveillance policy, go and read Chris Soghoian's long and impassioned post today. Chris drops several bombshells into the debate, including an audio recording of a closed-door talk by Sprint/NexTel's Electronic Surveillance Manager, bragging about how easy the company has made it for law enforcement to get customers' location data -- so easy that the company has serviced over eight million law enforcement requests for customer location data.

Here's the juiciest quote: [ Read more ... ]

GPS and Privacy Rights: Via Editorial - NYTimes.com .

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., heard arguments last week about whether police should have to get a warrant before putting a GPS device on a suspect’s car. It is a cutting-edge civil liberties question that has divided the courts that have considered it. GPS devices give the government extraordinary power to monitor people’s movements. The Washington court should rule that a warrant is required.

Antoine Jones was charged with being part of an interstate drug conspiracy. The government obtained evidence against Mr. Jones by putting a GPS device on his Jeep. It obtained a court order to install the GPS device, but the defense said the order was faulty, and tried to get the evidence collected by the device thrown out. The government responded that the evidence was admissible because it did not need to get a court order at all. [ Read more ... ]

Best Buy Sells Surveillance Tracker: Via Schneier on Security.

Best Buy Sells Surveillance Tracker
Only $99.99:

Keep tabs on your child at all times with this small but sophisticated device that combines GPS and cellular technology to provide you with real-time location updates. The small and lightweight Little Buddy transmitter fits easily into a backpack, lunchbox or other receptacle, making it easy for your child to carry so you can check his or her location at any time using a smartphone or computer. Customizable safety checks allow you to establish specific times and locations where your child is supposed to be -- for example, in school -- causing the device to alert you with a text message if your child leaves the designated area during that time. Additional real-time alerts let you know when the device's battery is running low so you can take steps to ensure your monitoring isn't interrupted.

Presumably it can also be used to track people who aren't your kids.

Read Original Article:(Via Schneier on Security.)

Surveillance for profit and the incredible shrinking expectation of privacy: Via CDT - PolicyBeta.

Digital signage media – video displays on screens ranging from TV-sized monitors in stores to roadside billboards – is maturing into an offline version of behavioral advertising. What effect will this have on consumers’ expectation of privacy in public spaces?

Recently, in the UK, a fresh example arose of the growing conflict between these digital signs and privacy laws. Castrol, the maker of motor oil, launched an advertising pilot in which roadside cameras scanned the license plates of passing cars and then digital billboards displayed the license numbers along with the grade of motor oil Castrol recommends for that type of car. The system was able to discern the make and model of each vehicle by running the license number through a database, containing the personal information of tens of millions of drivers, purchased from the British equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles. [ Read more ... ]

Digital Signage Offline Behavioral Advertising Privacy: Via Business 2.0 Press.

The digital signage industry is rapidly becoming aware of the privacy issues raised by interactivity and audience measurement techniques. There is, however, no industry-wide consensus about how to address those concerns. Some industry figures agree that privacy guidelines need to be adopted if audience measurement and other digital signage applications are to progress. Others, though, have referred to calls for the industry to be sensitive to privacy as “attacks” and have condemned privacy concerns as a lot of hype over nothing. The privacy issue is real, particularly if one considers the big picture of where digital out-of-home (DOOH) media is headed.

Internet marketers use various tools to profile consumers and deliver targeted advertisements to them as they browse the Web. Digital signage has begun integrating tools that can track and profile consumers as well, but the difference is that the targeted advertisements appear in the offline world. [ Read more ... ]

Charting the Final Frontier--Google Maps for Indoors - Technology For Change: Via smartertechnology.com .

once you arrive, it's up to you to find the office, meeting room or vendor inside. Now Micello takes over where conventional navigators leave off, mapping your route inside buildings, malls, convention centers and other points of interest. 

"Micello is quite literally Google maps for the insides of buildings," said Ankit Agarwal, founder and CEO of Micello. "We are mapping the last unchartered territory—the last mile—between the front door and where you are going. We are building the foundation for an indoor location-based services market." [ Read more ... ]

Cops Can't Convert Car Into Tracking Device Without Court's OK: Via EFF.org Updates.

The Supreme Court of Massachusetts recently held that officers may not place GPS tracking devices on cars without first getting a warrant. The case, Commonwealth v. Connolly, was decided under the state corollary to the Fourth Amendment, and its reasoning may influence pending GPS tracking cases, including United States v. Jones, where EFF is an amicus.

Connolly decided that the installation of the GPS device was a seizure of the suspect’s vehicle. “When an electronic surveillance device is installed in a motor vehicle, be it a beeper, radio transmitter, or GPS device, the government's control and use of the defendant's vehicle to track its movements interferes with the defendant's interest in the vehicle notwithstanding that he maintains possession of it.” Thus, the court held this interference with the owner’s possessory interest requires a warrant. [ Read more ... ]

Children's watch with Google maps tracking system - Telegraph: Via Telegraph(UK) .

The new num8 watch by Lok8u has a satellite positioning system so parents can keep track of their children's movements on Google maps.

The num8 watch has a GPS tracking device and satellite positioning system concealed inside so parents can locate the wearer to within 10 feet. [ Read more ... ]