The Transparent Society

If you doubted whatever previous references we've made to the forces of terror & repression keeping track of your physical location w/ that little GPS chip in your mobile, you can stop doubting. Those of you who, like us, receive most of our knowledge about the criminal justice system from Law & Order re-runs may already have noticed that Benson & Stabler have little or no problem tracking a "suspect" by his 'phone, & we don't hear much complaining about it from token civil libertarian Munch.

And it's not just the gov't. that'll be keeping a closer eye on you. In the name of profit, your privacy & safety are being eroded by the same corporate entities that are so willing to coöperate w/ Uncle Sam (who conveniently made it possible in the first place):

The issue is taking on greater relevance as wireless carriers are racing to offer sleek services that allow cellphone users to know with the touch of a button where their friends or families are. The companies are hoping to recoup investments they have made to meet a federal mandate to provide enhanced 911 (E911) location tracking. Sprint Nextel, for instance, boasts that its "loopt" service even sends an alert when a friend is near, "putting an end to missed connections in the mall, at the movies or around town."

Face it, you are no longer safe from anyone, anywhere. Gov't., spouse, significant other, parental units, irksome relatives, casual acquaintances; if they have your literal number, they have your figurative number as well. Or your latitude & longitude.

With Verizon's Chaperone service, parents can set up a "geofence" around, say, a few city blocks and receive an automatic text message if their child, holding the cellphone, travels outside that area. "Most people don't realize it, but they're carrying a tracking device in their pocket," said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Cellphones can reveal very precise information about your location, and yet legal protections are very much up in the air."

The specific thrust of the WaPo story is that warrants for tracking by mobile 'phone are being requested & given w/o what some Nervous Nellies say is "probable cause."

"Law enforcement routinely now requests carriers to continuously 'ping' wireless devices of suspects to locate them when a call is not being made . . . so law enforcement can triangulate the precise location of a device and [seek] the location of all associates communicating with a target," wrote Christopher Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA -- the Wireless Association, in a July comment to the Federal Communications Commission. He said the "lack of a consistent legal standard for tracking a user's location has made it difficult for carriers to comply" with law enforcement agencies' demands. Gidari, who also represents CTIA, said he has never seen such a request that was based on probable cause. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said field attorneys should follow the department's policy. "We strongly recommend that prosecutors in the field obtain a warrant based on probable cause" to get location data "in a private area not accessible to the public," he said. "When we become aware of situations where this has not occurred, we contact the field office and discuss the matter." "Law enforcement has absolutely no interest in tracking the locations of law-abiding citizens. None whatsoever," Boyd said. "What we're doing is going through the courts to lawfully obtain data that will help us locate criminal targets, sometimes in cases where lives are literally hanging in the balance, such as a child abduction or serial murderer on the loose."

Absolutely no interest. Sometimes. Don't forget they're already doing their best to keep you even stupider than you already are w/ mobiles.