WyBlog

It's not just the NSA, every beat cop in America has your cellphone records

Big Brother really is everywhere.

But wait, it gets better.

Carriers, following requests from law enforcement agencies, are providing a range of other records as well. Those include GPS location data, website addresses and, in some cases, the search terms Americans have entered into their cellphones.

You have no privacy.

The police know everything you're doing. Usually even before you do it. Because they're reading your text messages and tracking your Google searches. In real time. Day in, and day out. Without a warrant, or so much as even cursory judicial oversight.

With just a few taps on his dashboard computer, before he pulls you over Barney Fife knows what you had for breakfast, that you're fighting with your wife, and what time you're meeting your mistress for drinks. He knows where you've been, and he knows where you're going.

At least 25 police departments own a Stingray, a suitcase-size device that costs as much as $400,000 and acts as a fake cell tower. The system, typically installed in a vehicle so it can be moved into any neighborhood, tricks all nearby phones into connecting to it and feeding data to police. In some states, the devices are available to any local police department via state surveillance units. The federal government funds most of the purchases, via anti-terror grants.

It's a power far beyond anything the KGB ever dreamed of. And it's available to every beat cop in America whenever he wants it.

We are all Robert Clayton Dean now. And the Bill Of Rights has lost all meaning.

Posted at 10:35 by Chris Wysocki   [/news]   Comments | Perm Link |
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