Skip to content

Unexplainable.net

Watching The World Change

  • Stigmata Religion Articles
  • Fruits Mentioned in the Bible II Religion Articles
  • Zinio Offers Digital Magazine that Highlights Secret Societies Information and Theories
  • What is the Kronosaurus? Information and Theories
  • UFO’s – 1986 NSA reply on Aquarius UFOs and Aliens
  • Edgar Allen Poe’s Telltale Tribute Ends Simply Unexplainable
  • The soul and its reincarnations Meditation And Spirituality
  • Halloween Haunted Houses and Events , California Ghost And Demons

Law Enforcements New Undercover Agent: Your Smartphone

Posted on August 22, 2012 By jim No Comments on Law Enforcements New Undercover Agent: Your Smartphone

Can police access the GPS data on your phone?  According to a recent court ruling, they can not only access it, but activate GPS location tracking if it’s disabled.

Consumers currently enjoy little privacy protection from the GPS location information broadcast by their smartphones or automatically added by latest-generation cameras to their digital photographs.

But many legislators, consumer rights groups, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, are seeking clear guidelines about how police, application developers, online marketers, and other third parties can collect and share consumers’ GPS data.  As that suit implies, many legal questions remain unanswered, and law enforcement practices are relatively ad hoc. Here are 7  things we do know about the unfolding GPS data privacy debate.

1. Consumer Electronics Store Location Information

By default, numerous devices store GPS data in numerous ways. “While smartphone users may realize that their devices have the capability to track their whereabouts, what they may not know is that other devices, such as new cameras, also have the capability to know their location and add location information to a photograph,” according to a new report from Kroll Advisory Solutions. Known as geotagging, the location-data-tracking feature recently caught a member of hacking group CabinCr3w by surprise, when he posted a provocative photograph of his girlfriend holding a written taunt to the FBI. The bureau then reviewed the EXIF-encoded GPS coordinates in the image, which corresponded with the girlfriend’s house.

2. No GPS Sharing Notification For Consumers

Currently, consumers enjoy few protections on their GPS data, and remain unaware when such information is shared by third parties. “Part of the problem lies in the many different entities involved–wireless carrier, operating system provider, application developer–who may all have access to the consumer’s personal information,” according to Kroll. “A consumer may have some control through device settings and discretion in what types of applications he or she chooses to use on the device, but these measures cannot guarantee that data will not be shared with third parties.”

3. International Approaches Vary

Different countries have been taking markedly different approaches to GPS data privacy. “Earlier this year in Mexico, revisions to federal law–dubbed the Geolocalization Law–provided law enforcement with a powerful ability to request and utilize real-time geographic data from mobile service providers in a wide variety of cases,” according to Kroll.  “On the opposite end of the spectrum, the European Commission’s Article 29 Working Party released an opinion stating that geolocation information is personal data.”  As a result, in Europe such information can only be collected, shared, or stored with people’s express consent.

4. FTC Urges Congress To Protect GPS Data

With the increased use of devices that track GPS data by default, in March the FTC released a report, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: Recommendations for Businesses and Policymakers,” that urges Congress to protect mobile data, including mobile device users’ geolocation data. To increase data transparency, the agency is also recommending that legislators craft a law that would require third-party data brokers to disclose to consumers all information that they hold on them.

5. Congress Debates Geolocation Data

Several bills have been introduced in Congress that would set clear standards for GPS data privacy. Last year, for example, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act. In a statement, they said the proposed law “requires the government to show probable cause and get a warrant before acquiring the geolocational information of a U.S. person, while setting out clear exceptions such as emergency or national security situations or cases of theft or fraud.” Wyden and Chaffetz later attached their bill as an amendment to the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, which earlier this month appeared to have been defeated–at least for this year–by a Republican filibuster.

6. Malware Taps GPS Data

Always pushing the envelope, malware-coding scammers have also begun tapping geolocation data to lend their emails a greater air of authenticity. Earlier this month, for example, London police issued a warning over scamware that purported to be from the Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), which locks a PC and then demands a fine for it to be unlocked. “This is a fraud and users are advised not to pay out any monies or hand out any bank details,” according to an alert issued by London police. “This scam is now affecting many countries in Europe and further afield, with each email tailored to include the branding of that country’s law enforcement agency.”

The FBI also issued its own warning about the scam. “This malware is doing the rounds across a lot of different countries,” said Brian Honan, an independent security consultant based in Dublin, in a security newsletter from the SANS Institute. “It is coded to use geolocation to detect which country the infected computer is in and to use the logos … of the relevant law enforcement organization for that jurisdiction.”

7. Police Can Activate Phone GPS Location Tracking

Can police access the GPS data on your phone? According to a recent court ruling, they can not only access it, but activate GPS location tracking if it’s disabled. That’s one takeaway from last week’s U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruling in a case involving Melvin Skinner, who was convicted of drug trafficking–and sentenced to 20 years in jail. Skinner argued that the GPS data tracking, which DEA agents used to track a motor home he was driving that was filled with 1,100 pounds of marijuana, violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search. In addition, according to a close reading of the court ruling, it turns out that police may not have merely tracked Skinner, but actually instructed his prepaid phone provider to activate the GPS functionality. The court, however, ruled that the DEA had acted lawfully.

But according to Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties for the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford University, the court erred–by applying the wrong statute. “The court authorized real time tracking based on a provision of the Stored Communications Act,” said Granick in a blog post. But GPS data isn’t stored data, which means that the DEA, which had failed to get a warrant, actually conducted “an illegal search,” she said. Interestingly, “the Justice Department recommends that prosecutors obtain a warrant to get GPS location information from mobile communications service providers,” according to a blog post by Gregory T. Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology. But the DEA failed to do so for GPS data, which means that Skinner might be able to suppress the evidence.

Again, the related debate and uncertain ruling continue to highlight how, at least in the United States, important legal questions surrounding the collecting, storing, and tracking of GPS data remain unanswered.

Source: InformationWeek

Technology Articles

Post navigation

Previous Post: Federal Authority’s Explanation About Hollow Point Bullet Purchases Raises More Questions Than Answers
Next Post: West Nile Virus Set To Have Record Year in the United States

Related Posts

  • Broadband Networking Through The Human Body Technology Articles
  • Dolly the Sheep: She’s Ba-a-a-ack Technology Articles
  • Robotic Death Sentries Deployed in South Korea Technology Articles
  • New Super Virus Evolved from Stuxnet Technology Articles
  • Solar “Leaf” May Answer Energy Woes Technology Articles
  • Financial Skynet: The Economy Run by Machines Technology Articles

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • The Meat Eater couple arrested for child abuse
  • The Meat-Eater boxer kidnapped and raped a young school Girl
  • Carnist man arrested for 198 years for raping and shooting a woman
  • Mitch McConnell- Eating Cow Corpses
  • Animal Flesh Eater Arrested: Felony Charges Serious Injury To 3 Month Old!

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • July 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003

Categories

  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Benjamin Fulford Story
  • Corrupt Carnivores
  • Cryptology and Monsters
  • Eating Healthy
  • Ghost And Demons
  • Information and Theories
  • Mars Coverage
  • Meditation And Spirituality
  • Mysteries
  • NASA Articles
  • Other Exciting News
  • Personal Accounts
  • Pictures And Multimedia
  • Political Conspiracies
  • Recent Submissions
  • Religion Articles
  • Self Improvement
  • Simply Unexplainable
  • Space and Astrology
  • Technology Articles
  • True Stories
  • UFOs and Aliens
  • Unexplainable Video Library
  • Unexplainable Weather
  • Haunted Churches in the United States Ghost And Demons
  • Birds Commit Arson Information and Theories
  • Disclosure Secrets Communed From Altair Of The Constellation Aquila UFOs and Aliens
  • High End Technology Helps Uphold The Law Technology Articles
  • Body Of Famous Murderer John List Remains Unclaimed Information and Theories
  • Ground-Breaking Cemeteries in United States Information and Theories
  • Alien Sites UFOs and Aliens
  • Twisted Sounds from the Deep Simply Unexplainable

Copyright © 2023 Unexplainable.net.

Powered by PressBook News Dark theme