Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect.

[sl8]

From https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/google-tracked-his-bike-ride-past-burglarized-home-made-him-n1151761

Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect.

"I was using an app to see how many miles I rode my bike and now it was putting me at the scene of the crime," the man said.

March 7, 2020, 6:22 AM EST
By Jon Schuppe

The email arrived on a Tuesday afternoon in January, startling Zachary McCoy as he prepared to leave for his job at a restaurant in Gainesville, Florida.

It was from Google’s legal investigations support team, writing to let him know that local police had demanded information related to his Google account. The company said it would release the data unless he went to court and tried to block it. He had just seven days.

[...]

[Coventina]

1. Google has removed "Don't be Evil" from their mission statement.

Very telling.

[rampartc]

2. he may have witnessed something

should contact police and see.

[csziggy]

8. The article said the crime was 10 months earlier

And that he rides through his neighborhood almost daily. If he had witnessed anything worth noting and remembering from that long ago, he probably would have contacted police on the day of the incident.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

Google geofence warrants have been used by police agencies around the country, including the FBI. Google said in a court filing last year that the requests from state and federal law enforcement authorities were increasing rapidly: by more than 1,500 percent from 2017 to 2018, and by 500 percent from 2018 to 2019.

There have been very few court challenges to Google geofence warrants, mainly because the warrants are done in secret and defense lawyers may not realize the tool was used to identify their clients. One exception is an accused bank robber in Midlothian, Virginia, who is fighting the charge by arguing the geofence warrant used against him was illegal. That case is pending.

[2naSalit]

4. Voluntary

Acquiescence to big brother using all those apps. There are monitoring you 24/7.

[defacto7]

9. Yep, no news to me but no one listens.

[Roland99]

5. Wow. Had no idea this was such a widespread thing now

The lawyer, Caleb Kenyon, dug around and learned that the notice had been prompted by a “geofence warrant,” a police surveillance tool that casts a virtual dragnet over crime scenes, sweeping up Google location data — drawn from users’ GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular connections — from everyone nearby.

The warrants, which have increased dramatically in the past two years, can help police find potential suspects when they have no leads. They also scoop up data from people who have nothing to do with the crime, often without their knowing ─ which Google itself has described as “a significant incursion on privacy.”

[Coventina]

7. At what point does police investigation become harassment of the innocent?

To me, this crosses that line. I'm sure the police disagree.

One irony I find in this, is that since when do police bother to investigate burglaries?

That's a new one on me!

[Johonny]

6. The article says the case ended well for him. But I wonder what that lawyer cost him

[marble falls]

10. What google said ...

"They also scoop up data from people who have nothing to do with the crime, often without their knowing ─ which Google itself has described as “a significant incursion on privacy.”"


When Google thinks someone has overreached into the privacy of citizens - maybe you've gone too far.

[ooky]

11. Another reason to add to the growing list of reasons to make yourself

invisible on line. Avoid unnecessary hassles like this.

Turn off unused apps, location services, use VPN's and ad blockers. Avoid hassles that can potentially arise from corporations violating the ever living hell out of our privacy.

[lame54]

12. How much burgled stuff can one carry on a bicycle