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Chris Wysocki
Caldwell, NJ
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." - Ronald Reagan
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Big Brother really is everywhere.
Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies conducting criminal investigations collected data on cellphone activity thousands of times last year, with each request to a phone company yielding hundreds or thousands of phone numbers of innocent Americans along with those of potential suspects.
Law enforcement made more than 9,000 requests last year for what are called "tower dumps," information on all the calls that bounced off a cellphone tower within a certain period, usually two or more hours, a congressional inquiry has revealed.
The little-known practice has raised concerns among federal judges, lawmakers and privacy advocates who question the harvesting of massive amounts of data on people suspected of no crime in order to try to locate a criminal. Data linked to specific cell towers can be used to track people's movements.
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
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