Sprint fed customer GPS data to cops over 8 million times

[Emit]

Sprint fed customer GPS data to cops over 8 million times
A blogger has released audio of Sprint's Electronic Surveillance Manager describing the carrier's cooperation with law enforcement. Among the revelations are that Sprint has so far filled over 8 million requests from LEOs for customer GPS data.

Christopher Soghoian, a graduate student at Indiana University's School of Informatics and Computing, has made public an audio recording of Sprint/Nextel's Electronic Surveillance Manager describing how his company has provided GPS location data about its wireless customers to law enforcement over 8 million times. That's potentially millions of Sprint/Nextel customers who not only were probably unaware that their wireless provider even had an Electronic Surveillance Department, but who certainly did not know that law enforcement offers could log into a special Sprint Web portal and, without ever having to demonstrate probable cause to a judge, gain access to geolocation logs detailing where they've been and where they are.

Through a mix of documents unearthed by Freedom of Information Act requests and the aforementioned recording, Soghoian describes how "the government routinely obtains customer records from ISPs detailing the telephone numbers dialed, text messages, emails and instant messages sent, web pages browsed, the queries submitted to search engines, and geolocation data, detailing exactly where an individual was located at a particular date and time."

The fact that federal, state, and local law enforcement can obtain communications "metadata"—URLs of sites visited, e-mail message headers, numbers dialed, GPS locations, etc.—without any real oversight or reporting requirements should be shocking, but it isn't. The courts ruled in 2005 that law enforcement doesn't need to show probable cause to obtain your physical location via the cell phone grid. All of the aforementioned metadata can be accessed with an easy-to-obtain pen register/trap & trace order. But given the volume of requests, it's hard to imagine that the courts are involved in all of these.

Soghoian's lengthy post makes at least two important points, the first of which is that there are no reliable statistics on the real volume and scope of government surveillance because such numbers are either not published (sometimes in violation of the legally mandated reporting requirements) or they contain huge gaps. The second point is that the lack of reporting makes it difficult to determine just how involved the courts actually are in all of this, in terms of whether these requests are all backed by subpoenas.

Underlying both of these issues is the fact that Sprint has made it so easy for law enforcement to gain access to customer data on a 24/7 basis through the use of its Web portal and large compliance department. ...

~snip~

http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/12/sprint-fed-customer-gps-data-to-leos-over-8-million-times.ars

Christopher Soghoian has since taken down his links to the recordings of the conference based on claims that it violated copyright law.

[boppers]

1. The really sad part is that folks don't realize how this game works.

If you are reading this, you are reading an international (not protected) web post, that anybody can "ask nicely" for the post, and response information, without a warrant.

[regnaD kciN]

2. This could be important information...

If you're planning something "questionable," think law enforcement is going to be on your tail, and you have a Sprint phone, here's what you do: before going on your "questionable" activity, take your Sprint phone, box it up, and FedEx it to somewhere across the country. Then go to the corner store and buy (with cash) a pre-paid cell, and use it on your "mission."

Alternatively, of course, leave your Sprint phone at home and go with the pre-paid cell.

:evilgrin:

Seriously, I'd like to know what those eight million surveillance requests were for. Were these actual criminal investigations with warrants, or just another variant on Bush-era warrantless surveillance?

I have a Palm Pre from Sprint, and it has the ability to turn "location services" (including GPS) on or off. I don't know if there's a special way for law enforcement to turn it back on if you've turned it off -- but you could always pull the battery if you were concerned.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Build A Bigger MouseTrap...

...some schmuck will invent a bigger mouse. Surely those who want to lay low and avoid detection know these tricks and many more. Personally, I use my cellphone sparingly and having GPS capabilities is a bonus for me in case I do get lost or something else bad happens and the signal can be used to find my corpse. If someone's getting off tracking where I'm at...let them knock themselves out.

Imagine how tedious the job is to trace those 8 million people...the massive waste of man hours that is truly GIGO work that could hamper finding a "terrerist" as they rummage through all this "data" rather than using human intel and old fashioned police work. For those paranoid that big brother is watching...what took you so long to realize it?

[FarCenter]

7. If GPS is off, they estimate your location by the signal strength at nearby cell towers

The location accuracy is dependent on the density of cell towers in the area and how close you are to them.

This is how they locate people who make 911 calls from their cell phone.

[snot]

3. K&R'd -- this is impt.

[unhappycamper]

4. IMO, this is just another aspect of loss of privacy.

If you have a cellphone or use email, uncle is listening and recording. NSA knows all.

[SoCalDem]

5. Isn't it deliciously odd?

All these privacy-aficionados who bristle at the very thought of a photo-ID so they could vote easier, or perhaps even access a truly universal health care plan someday, willingly PAY hundreds of dollars every month, and then PAY again to have their favorite song instead of a dull old "one-ringie-dingie", and they spend extra money (often it's an extra cost) to type out inane messages on a postage-stamp sized "keypad", to people they could just dial up and TALK to...all so they can be tracked like a "chipped-hound"...and then have all those pearls-of-wisdom they sent & received, passed around & read by law enforcement..

:rofl: