U.S. Justice Department Accused of Using Fake Cell Towers on Planes to Gather Data From Phones

[chaosbunny]

Well people like their iPhones so I'd have to say yes.

Good answer, made me laugh.

 

[cwosigns]

Since I am not doing anything wrong there is no need for that.. see how that works? Without probable cause they can't do that. With probable cause they can anyway whether you like it or not so...

How do you NOT see the flaw in your own thinking? These DRT boxes are collecting data from THOUSANDS of people who haven't given law enforcement probable cause to access their data w/o a warrant. But it's okay...we should just trust them because we haven't done anything wrong?

No thanks. I would like to keep my 4th Amendment intact.

 

[milo]

The upside is it's convenient for them to do this and spray chemtrails at the same time. Multitasking FTW.

 

[CooKieMoNs7eR]

The question is....is there a jailbreak tweak to block this?

 

[JRoDDz]

To all of you please think of this.

You don’t trust your OWN government.

Then why should anybody in the rest of the WORLD, trust the US Government?

You shouldn't. Was someone saying that you should? I'm a U.S. citizen and trust in any government has gone out the window years ago.

 

[SvP]

our enemies don't have borders anymore. if it means capturing the next terrorist and their cell, go for it. I'm not doing anything wrong, so i'm not worried

-the threat of terrorism is minimal. Worry about traffic, pollution, and food instead. It's a strawman.

-The problem with "I'm not doing anything wrong, so i'm not worried" is that you don't get to decide what's wrong or right. They do.
--and you don't know who "they" may be.

 

[ejb190]

What's the difference between this and the technology that allows police officers to run the plates of every car they pass?

In both cases, there is a record of where you were at a given point of time. You were identified and passed over. The bigger question is what is done with the "extra" data. Is it stored, catalogued, and poured over? Or is it deleted?

I have very different feelings about this depending on if they are looking for a specific phone or just looking to see who's down there.

 

[cclloyd]

our enemies don't have borders anymore. if it means capturing the next terrorist and their cell, go for it. I'm not doing anything wrong, so i'm not worried

You're what's wrong with this (U.S.) country.

 

[flat five]

To all of you please think of this.

You don’t trust your OWN government.

Then why should anybody in the rest of the WORLD, trust the US Government?

it's not our 'own' government and right, the rest of the world shouldn't trust them either.. besides, it's your government too.

it might possibly be our government if a huge chunk of the population didn't sit around thinking "i'm doing nothing wrong therefore i have nothing to worry about"... but they're doing all sorts of wrong by cowering to that stance.

 

[charlituna]

I could see this being useful in a sting operation targeting drug dealers, for instance. But what about a mass shooting, where eyewitnesses might have a chance to call police from their cell phones to provide information about the whereabouts of the shooter? Will those "emergency calls" truly be uninterrupted? If not, then the approach could be doing more harm than good.

Cali's like that would likely be to 911 since few folks know any other number. So if they really call tell 911 from other cals it's all good

 

[Swytch]

So let me get this straight, The Department of Justice is constantly questioning Apple over its privacy and security practices, but the DOJ will not share information on how it is ensuring peoples data is private and secure when they are collecting data illegally?

and this is almost definitely interfering with people calls. If you connect to this fake tower how would you make a call? or if on a call it would most certainly drop...

 

[Gasu E.]

our enemies don't have borders anymore. if it means capturing the next terrorist and their cell, go for it. I'm not doing anything wrong, so i'm not worried

But... you're holding it wrong!!!

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Let me see... there are like 200 million people in the USA with cellphones... and they have to fly Cessnas around to scour the area in order to locate cellphone IDs... and exactly how many Cessnas does the DOJ have to do this? I just looked out my window and I didn't see any!

Clearly, this would be an extremely expensive and inefficient way to track even .1% of the US population. Obviously this is only useful when they are looking for a specific suspect who is thought to be in a specific area.

 

[bradl]

But... you're holding it wrong!!!

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Let me see... there are like 200 million people in the USA with cellphones... and they have to fly Cessnas around to scour the area in order to locate cellphone IDs... and exactly how many Cessnas does the DOJ have to do this? I just looked out my window and I didn't see any!

Clearly, this would be an extremely expensive and inefficient way to track even .1% of the US population. Obviously this is only useful when they are looking for a specific suspect who is thought to be in a specific area.

For the record, most fixed-wing Cessnas (C172, C182, C152, etc.) have a service ceiling of roughly 13,500ft MSL. When you get up that high, your visibility, let alone line of sight gets highly amplified. Depending on how strong the signal the DRT boxes can produce, that can cover quite a bit of range.

BL.

 

[DaKKs]

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

That was said by Benjamin Franklin. One of your founding fathers. Might be something to look into. That tiny thing about how the hell you lot got so freaking far away from what your country was supposed to be.

 

[mdlooker]

Where were you in 1996?

I ask that, because the same group of people who brought down the WTC on 9/11 tried to blow it up 5 years earlier. You will note that absolutely none of our freedoms were taken while we were tracking down the culprits responsible.

No shoes taken off. No 3-1-1 at the airports. No TSA
No warrantless wiretaps.
while existing, no trials held by FISC.

None of the freedoms we had were chipped away as a cost for fighting terrorism.

The government exists to not only protect its citizens, but also within the confines of the Constitution, which protects the citizens FROM the government. In this issue, if the government used this method to find out information that Fred Dodd (made up the name) is trying to aid ISIS, but also found out that you were a part of a huge child pornography distribution ring, and arrested you for it, do you know what your rights are there?

I'm guessing no, because they searched for and seized your data without informing you they were doing so, which is required per the Constitution.

You need to re-read that document and what your rights are, instead of living behind your fear that the big bad terrorists are coming to get you.

Ben Franklin was right.

BL.

Bradl in 1996 I was stationed at Fort Myer (Ft. McNair) VA helping keep our country safe. The thing that you're missing is that while you believe that absolutely none of our freedoms were taken, I tend to believe that they were; just not so blatently apparent. You have been monitored for a long long time, we all have. When 9/11 hit, it wasn't by surprise, it was by arrogance in thinking that what we knew wouldn't actually happen so we (United States) brushed it off.

If illegal information is obtained in the scenario as what you're describing occurs, no you won't be picked up off of the streets. As that evidence was/would be illegally obtained and never survive 60 seconds in court w/o probable cause. I do, however, believe that information/evidence of that nature may be forwarded to the proper authorities to further monitor that persons actions of which may lead to a proper arrest. The leak of NSAs actions I think that occurred last year, should be a telltale sign of what I'm trying to relay. For national security, there won't ever be a "non-monitoring" solution as it's been a part of the behind the scenes action for a very long time (I just don't know how long).

Our freedoms are being chipped away because we can't be 100% proactive towards terrorism unfortunately. We have to be reactive in some measures as we've had airline incidents along the way that has caused shoes off and whatnot.

Do I want my every email, phone call and text message monitored and scrutinized..heck no, I wouldn't agree to it nor do I believe it's happening. But we need to remember that we haven't had a myriad of "9/11s" happen because we're hopeful. We've been taking steps to prevent these things to happen. This is in my own little world of thinking.

 

[Tech198]

To all of you please think of this.

You don’t trust your OWN government.

Then why should anybody in the rest of the WORLD, trust the US Government?

It''s their choice... no one is forcing a gun to your face and saying u must trust us are they ...??

There may be consequences for not trusting them, but then you make that decision. not them...

Let's see here...

- They lie to get into power, and break promises all the time,

so no... I reckon that's a pretty convincing argument for not trusting them. Doesn't matter if it's the U.S, they all do it..

How many governments do u know that have promised every thing they said and completed all, without going off at a tangent ?

 

[wilycoder]

No where does it say they are "catching ALL your data" just location of the device



They are not installing GPS on your car, they are looking at cell phone location. Not relevant to this conversation.


Again this is not at all relevant to getting cell phone location data.

Put another way, why can't a private individual legally spoof a cell tower? So why would you think the cops should be able to? Rhetorical questions.

4th amendment, look it up before it disappears because of people like you.

Same reason private individuals don't investigate crimes. "Cops" as you put it, are responsible for public safety and investigating criminal /terrorist behavior. That's their job and what they are supposed to do. Private individuals don't have this responsibility. No different than your accounting dept at you job has all the payroll info and company financial information but the rest of the employees are not privy to that info. Not their job.

Hey guys look, someone doesn't understand the slippery slope of how government abuses power!

The patriot act was supposed to be for terrorism. 99.9% of what it gets used for is not terrorism. It's drugs. So please, give the government more power

 

[Jayson A]

Don't commit crimes and you won't have anything to worry about.

 

[chaosbunny]

Don't commit crimes and you won't have anything to worry about.

Please, read the thread. There were enough good arguments why such a statement is wrong.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

But they're not phones any more. That device in your pocket has become the main computer for many people. A Nokia from the 90's would be just a "phone". Now we have micro computers.

----

Going to play a drinking game with this thread later. Shot every time someone says "sheeple" or "wake up".

Either way, being secure in "our papers" is a right given to us by our Creator, and protected by the 4th Amendment. I'm not sure where you're going with your point, which is entirely factual.

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I would have up-voted your comment, but I'm even afraid to do that.

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Thank you!

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You need to re-read that document and what your rights are, instead of living behind your fear that the big bad terrorists are coming to get you.

Ben Franklin was right.

BL.

If I may, Amendments 9 and 10, pretty much say, "If we didn't put it in Article I, Section 8 for what laws are to be passed, they belong to the People and the States."

Pretty much, it says that are rights are without counting, and the Federal Government is there to take care of the nitty gritty of dealing with foreign governments, interstate (no, really, transactions that go between the states, not growing crops for your own use in Kansas) commerce, coining money, armies, navies, and the big stuff.

The rest of it... we're big kids, and we can take care of it ourselves.

 

[0098386]

Either way, being secure in "our papers" is a right given to us by our Creator, and protected by the 4th Amendment. I'm not sure where you're going with your point, which is entirely factual.

Who is this creator and what does he have to do with a document written by men a couple of hundred years ago?

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Who is this creator and what does he have to do with a document written by men a couple of hundred years ago?

This Creator is mentioned in one of those documents:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

That one was written by a guy on a hot summer day in Philadelphia in 1776.

He had help.

 

[bradl]

This Creator is mentioned in one of those documents:



That one was written by a guy on a hot summer day in Philadelphia in 1776.

He had help.

You didn't answer the question. Who is "the creator"? God? Goddess? Allah? Buddha? Tao?

BL.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

You didn't answer the question. Who is "the creator"? God? Goddess? Allah? Buddha? Tao?

BL.

All/any of the above, but you forgot mom and dad, for those that don't believe in a higher power. As it states, "their Creator", not "the Creator", thus giving each person to discover for themselves who that is.

The Creator is the one who creates, and for each individual, it may be different. Churches are there for those that have a common belief, and for those that share those beliefs to strengthen and teach each other and others.

If you'd like to start a fight, ok, but for those that are in the USA, those are the founding documents of the country, so we can start there.

 

[skunk]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

What a pity they didn't practise what they preached.