Yes, not live tracking. All the talk about GPS location has confused the issue a bit. The devices can triangulate their live position from multiple towers (or satellites for GPS) and the device may relay that to a 911 operator or Google, etc. However the information available to law enforcement weeks or months later is only what business records the phone company has chosen to keep.
This varies from company to company (along with the retention period of records) but normally it is a single tower location, a time and an antenna ID. Most towers are composed of three antennas offset to provide 360 degrees of coverage, so each antenna ID corresponds to about 120 degrees of sweep. Analysts can evaluate tower location for elevation, obstructions, and competing towers to provide rough estimates for the maximum distance from which a device is likely to connect. It is generally several miles.
This provides a large swath of coverage that the phone is deduced to have been inside of at that time. If the device quickly "bounces" back and forth between that and another tower (or two) the coverages may be overlaid to perform a crude "triangulation" but nothing close to GPS. The odds that a device would bounce during any specific event, and that all the records would be kept, are pretty low.
This information comes from my having served on a federal jury and being presented with phone record location information and analysis. I was very surprised at the time because I assumed it would be much, much better.
NO! Haven't you heard about the rash of missing assault rifles and various other death dealing instruments? Think about what nefarious people could do with this military grade contraband!
If anything our local police departments need access to Predator drones, Stinger Missiles, and the like to combat these ne'er-do-wells.
I'm sorry, are you talking about sharks or bears or F5 tornadoes? Because "keep your head down and hope you survive" sounds like great advice against the call of the wild, but less coherent when dealing with the people charged with maintaining public safety.
Re: The library of congress is part of the Administration
I think it's unfair to blame the "Library of Congress' horrible decision". Laws shouldn't need perpetual exemptions, but the only way to motivate legislative action is to stop pretending everything is a-okay.
Frankly, they need to tear the whole DMCA down and start over, but we all know what a long shot that is.
By stripping people of their clearances, they've only made their own job more difficult.
Yes, which makes me a little bit hopeful that this action will start to address what I see as one of the contributing factors to this whole mess, over-classification.
I don't like it, but I can cope with the fact that my government needs to keep some secrets from its people. But someone decided that it would be easier to keep most things secret instead, and that's unacceptable. Particularly the state secrets that are hidden because they are embarrassing.
Having 100,000 less gophers to push documents around makes it that much harder to create and over-classify millions of documents; which in turn should make it easier for public welfare organizations to push back on what does get classified. The NSA might think of it as an unintended consequence, and there may be fewer potential leakers, but I think this is a win against everything-is-secret-by-default culture.
There is a huge difference in calling the National Guard to assist the police versus calling them to replace the police. These demonstrations are a result of the Public's loss of faith in the legitimacy of authority. To restore it they need to address the abuses of power, not just reinforce the "shut up and go home" policy.
I have thought back to The Siege (1998) many times since 2001, particularly this quote by Bruce Willis as General Devereaux about deploying the military on your own citizens.
The Army is a broadsword, not a scalpel. Trust me, senator, you do not want the Army in an American city. Twelve hours after the President gives the order we can be on the ground. One light infantry division of 10,700 men, elements of the Rapid Deployment Force, Special Forces, Delta, APCs, helicopters, tanks, and of course the ubiquitous M16A1 assault rifle. A humble enough weapon until you see it in the hands of a man outside your local bowling alley or 7-11. It will be noisy. It will be scary, and it will not be mistaken for a VFW parade. Make no mistake. We will hunt down the enemy. We will find the enemy. And we will kill the enemy. No card-carrying member of the ACLU is more deadset against it than I am. Which is why I urge you - I implore you - do not consider this as an option.
As far as I can tell "the process" involves having your rights violated, all evidence destroyed or preempted, and the officer's version of events treated as gospel. I'm not sure how anyone would be able to file a suit afterwards if these thugs got their way.
On the post: Turns Out Cell Phone Location Data Is Not Even Close To Accurate, But Everyone Falls For It
Re: Re: Article in accuracies
This varies from company to company (along with the retention period of records) but normally it is a single tower location, a time and an antenna ID. Most towers are composed of three antennas offset to provide 360 degrees of coverage, so each antenna ID corresponds to about 120 degrees of sweep. Analysts can evaluate tower location for elevation, obstructions, and competing towers to provide rough estimates for the maximum distance from which a device is likely to connect. It is generally several miles.
This provides a large swath of coverage that the phone is deduced to have been inside of at that time. If the device quickly "bounces" back and forth between that and another tower (or two) the coverages may be overlaid to perform a crude "triangulation" but nothing close to GPS. The odds that a device would bounce during any specific event, and that all the records would be kept, are pretty low.
This information comes from my having served on a federal jury and being presented with phone record location information and analysis. I was very surprised at the time because I assumed it would be much, much better.
On the post: Comcast Using Packet Injection To Push Its Own Ads Via WiFi, Apparently Oblivious To Security Concerns
Re: Hopefully they include on their phone service soon
On the post: Former Senator Scott Brown's Staff Sends Larry Lessig A Letter Demanding He Stop Referring To Brown As A 'Lobbyist'
On the post: Police Can't Find A Bunch Of The Military Weapons And Vehicles That The Pentagon Has Been Handing Out
Re: Inconclusive
If anything our local police departments need access to Predator drones, Stinger Missiles, and the like to combat these ne'er-do-wells.
On the post: Police Can't Find A Bunch Of The Military Weapons And Vehicles That The Pentagon Has Been Handing Out
Re: Re:
On the post: LAPD Officer Says Tragedies Could Be Prevented If Citizens Would Just Shut Up And Do What Cops Tell Them To
Re: Re:
On the post: LAPD Officer Says Tragedies Could Be Prevented If Citizens Would Just Shut Up And Do What Cops Tell Them To
Re: Truthful but wrongful...
On the post: The Revolutionary Document That Is The UK's 184-Year-Old Idea Of 'Policing By Consent'
Re: Re: Re: Civilians in a different uniform
On the post: Administration Proudly Announces That If Your 'We The People' Petition Aligns With Its Priorities, Something Might Actually Happen
Re: The library of congress is part of the Administration
Frankly, they need to tear the whole DMCA down and start over, but we all know what a long shot that is.
On the post: Licensing Boards Think Studying For A Test Is Copyright Infringement, Forbid Memorization Of Material
Re: How are they planning on enforcing this?
On the post: Government's Response To Snowden? Strip 100,000 Potential Whistleblowers Of Their Security Clearances
Re: Re: watch for watermarks, leakers
I don't like it, but I can cope with the fact that my government needs to keep some secrets from its people. But someone decided that it would be easier to keep most things secret instead, and that's unacceptable. Particularly the state secrets that are hidden because they are embarrassing.
Having 100,000 less gophers to push documents around makes it that much harder to create and over-classify millions of documents; which in turn should make it easier for public welfare organizations to push back on what does get classified. The NSA might think of it as an unintended consequence, and there may be fewer potential leakers, but I think this is a win against everything-is-secret-by-default culture.
On the post: Why Do People Trust Wikipedia? Because An Argument Is Better Than A Lecture
Re: Re: Re: Citations Please
On the post: Police In Ferguson Sign Court Agreement Promising Not To Interfere With Media... Then Go Threaten And Arrest Media
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Police In Ferguson Back To Threatening And Arresting Reporters: Tells Them To 'Get The Fuck Out Of Here'
On the post: Turns Out When Police Act Cordial, Rather Than As An Oppressive Military Force, Things Work Out Better
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Police Militarization, Citizen Journalism And The Suppression Of Free Speech: The Ferguson Fiasco Highlights Systemic Problem
Re:
On the post: NYPD Officer Chokes Man To Death; Cops Blame Cellphone Recordings And People 'Feeling They Have More Rights'
"the process"
On the post: 4th Grader Suspended For Properly Completing Assignment With A Nerf Gun
Re:
On the post: Big Pharma Given Control Of New .pharmacy Domain; Only Available To 'Legitimate' Online Pharmacies
On the post: 9/11 Commission's '10 Years Later' Report: The Only Problem With US Counterterrorism Efforts Is The General Public
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