What Does Your Phone Know About You? More Than You Think

Good old Michigan cops...

The article says the author put a PW on the phone. But, this program cracks it. See here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r25763642-Michigan-Police-Ex...

The app that comes with your iPhone and using your MobileMe account, besides giving you the ability to find your phone if lost, lets you wipe it clean remotely if necessary.

I wonder if the police can still recover information from it after you do that?

I don't have one (smart phone) so I'm just guessing, but probably, unless the app does a NSA certified wipe!

We (the govt.) spare no expense in the name of security & punishing law-breakers!

But it doesn't bother me.. I abide by EVERY law ever written & still in force, as I'm sure most of us do as well.

The fix for this problem of track-ability and privacy with cellphones, "smart devices" and GPS's is going to be a simple warning sticker on the device when sold.

The sticker will alert the buyer that the device is trackable in MANY ways some of which can not be supressed or opted-out. The manufacturer assumes no liability from, and all license to, that tracking data.

You can chose to buy the device or not....

What will be interesting is - will the police now consider that "agreement" (allowing your position to be freely broadcast in various multi-channel modes) the same as law enforcemnet's "plain view" doctrine?

If so, some day if you are pulled over for a busted tail-light, or failure to signal you might hear these words...

"License, Registration and CELLPHONE, please sir."

So, that your days activities (which are now considerd in "plain view") can be downloaded and checked.

The best to way to deal with this is, say 'No'.

In asking for your device, what is the Probable Cause? Where's the warrant for the search, and seizure of the information?

If the information is classifed as in "plain view" no probable cause or warrant is required.

Comply...or off to jail you go.

Well, that may be arguable that it is in plain view. The info is not displayed openly as per a sheet of paper. You have to access it by interrogation methods. In this case, electronic interrogation via a program.

I can barely wait for the outcome of the first lawsuit!

you get pulled over? Seems to me no siggies no scannie...just a thought.

If one goes out into their commuinty and openly transmits their position as they move about, on a device that they knew was transmitting their position.....then I would say at some point in time - law enforcement will make a vigorous argument that the sum of those actions are within the definition of "public view".

Accessing "bread crumbs" information via the personal device is simply information that "could have been obtained by other means".

Law enforcement currently does not need a warrant or probable cause to access the recorded view of a camera in a public location.

Think of your cellphone as the same thing...It is recording a "snapshot" of you as you move through a public place. You should have no expectation of privacy in regards to that "snapshot" taken knowingly in a public environment.

These are the arguments (I feel) law enforcement will make in the not too distant future.

At present, my current and past locations, recorded by the network, have to be subpoenaed via the provider. The same with my call records, text messages et al.

The police want to circumvent this process as an irresistible convenience for themselves. This is like saying because I left y car unlocked, it's ok for a thief to take it.

That dog won't hunt.

Courts have historically granted "small inconvieniences" of the individual.....

DUI check-points slightly impeed freedom of movement and seizure to check for drunkeness.

More than one court has allowed law enforcement to attach GPS devices to citizens' vehicles without warrant; with the arguement that the device is simply aggregating "public view" information.

Is handing over your personal device for a 10-second interrogation "too inconvienient" for a court to stop it?

And sure a person might "own" their personal device, and the cell companies might "own" the server. But, nothing is being stolen....The airwaves between those two pieces of hardware (and the data gleaned from those airwaves) is basically one big public trunk line.

Once the cell companies notify the consumer that tracking is possible and can not be (in some instances) be turned off. Your license agreement with the provider no longer includes the expectation of "location privacy" as well as other privacies....you're effectively on a truck line in some respects.

Well, if you want to hand over your cell, and abdicate your rights, feel free. The next thing you'll hear is, "Papers, please".

Myself, as long as they push harder to take what they think they have a right to, I'll buck the other way, and protect it to make it harder for them.

I don't leave my network open for a hacker, and this is no different. It seems the Gov has trained the sheep for slaughter very well.

Do you realize what a great case this statement is for piracy? LOL!

My cell phone is a Motorola V360 from 2006. No "smart" features or any kind of tracking. Nothing to see here, move along!

I have one myself (a spare), and a great phone IMO.

The phones are never off. They just go into a standby mode and can still be tracked. You want the thing to be off you need to pull the battery out