Study – Grow – Know

You Can Now Be Tracked

May 19, 2013 at 8:53 PM Leave a comment

Government law enforcement agencies recently got the legal go-ahead to track people without a search warrant…through your cell phone. In a 30-page ruling, Federal Judge Gary Brown recently ruled in favor of the DEA seeking real-time tracking data from a New York “doctor suspected of issuing thousands of illegal prescriptions.”

“Given the ubiquity and celebrity of geolocation technologies, an individual has no legitimate expectation of privacy in the prospective of a cellular telephone where that individual has failed to protect his privacy by taking the simple expedient of powering it off…

“As to control by the user, all of the known tracking technologies may be defeated by merely turning off the phone. Indeed – excluding apathy or inattention – the only reason that users leave cell phones turned on is so that the device can be located to receive calls. Conversely, individuals who do not want to be disturbed by unwanted telephone calls at a particular time or place simply turn their phones off, knowing that they cannot be located.”

By virtue of the fact that we have our cell phones on, Brown believes we have effectively canceled our right to privacy and have, by default, given the government permission to track us. According to him, the only way to avoid being tracked is by turning your phone off.

Judge Brown’s ruling is even a problem for some on the left and they are making their concerns known. The ACLU is calling this latest overreach by the government “ridiculous,” elaborating with “There is a big difference between location information you knowingly share with a select group of friends (or, in fact, the world) and information collected about you without your knowledge or consent…” This was in response to Judge Brown stating that cell phone users often download applications that allow them to share their physical location with other people.

But even turning off your cell phone may not stop your phone’s geolocation services. “Cell phones keep sending a signal several times a minute even though they are turned off. The only way to stop the GPS signal from a cell phone is to take out the battery, which is nearly impossible for the 75 million consumers who own an iPhone.”

You could buy a GPS jammer, but they may be illegal to buy and use in the United States, so I would suggest doing some solid research before you spend the money to buy one and yes, they are available. You could also make use of various products that are legal. One such device allows you to place the phone inside a “pouch” or “pocket” that protects the phone using Radio Frequency (RF) shielding. This is the same type of technology that protects the information on your credit card while in your wallet, so that it is not erased. In this type of use, it is exactly like removing the battery from your phone…without removing it.

Moving into the digital age certainly has its benefits. At the same time, one can only wonder how much more government encroachment will be accepted by the populace before society has had enough.

By the way, if you are unaware, you might be interested to know that your cell phone keeps all data you’ve ever downloaded onto it – the websites you’ve visited, the texts you’ve sent or received. It’s all there and computer forensics specialists in the FBI can gain access to that information very easily. The only way to keep that from happening is to destroy the phone…with a large hammer.

One woman – in asking how much further the government will go in stripping us of our rights – says, “…the breach of privacy could get worse soon. Congressional leaders are currently deciding on two laws that would let police freely bug private citizens. During an April hearing in Washington, one detective told Senators that geolocation tracking is needed to obtain information when ‘probable cause has not yet been established’.”

The courts have been dealing with this issue since at least 2010 and this may not be the end of it.

How many times have conservatives been ridiculed for saying “Big Brother is watching”? Turns out, this is seemingly becoming more true with each passing week.

Entry filed under: Life in America, Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Politics. Tags: cell phone tracking, government can track you by your cell phone without a warrant.