NEW: ACLU—Government Could Be Tracking You on Your Cell Phone
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Local police could be tracking your every movement on a cell phone—without having obtained a warrant from a judge or demonstrating probable cause, the Rhode Island ACLU is warning.
The ACLU says that this practice gives local law enforcement an unprecedented ability to know the most intimate details of a person’s life.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA news release issued this morning quotes a court case on the matter: “A person who knows all of another’s travels can deduce whether he is a weekly church goer, a heavy drinker, a regular at the gym, an unfaithful husband, an outpatient receiving medical treatment, an associate of particular individuals or political groups — and not just one such fact about a person, but all such facts.”
Today the ACLU filed a public information request with the Providence police and State Police, requesting extensive records on how they have used cell phone tracking information to follow the movements of Rhode Islanders. The local ACLU affiliate filed the request as part of a coordinated campaign around the country aimed at stripping away what it says is the cloak of secrecy surrounding the practice.
‘An incredibly powerful tool’
“The ability to access cell phone location data is an incredibly powerful tool and its use is shrouded in secrecy. The public has a right to know how and under what circumstances their location information is being accessed by the government,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
A spokesman this morning confirmed that Rhode Island State Police do use cell phone tracking information. Lt. Col. Raymond White, the deputy superintendent, said the information can be used to locate a 911 caller in distress, a missing person, or a fugitive. He said police do not need a warrant to obtain the information.
White said cell phone tracking is a tool that has been used in police investigations as well—but he said it is always for a specific public safety purpose. “It wouldn’t be to randomly track a citizen who has no issue with law enforcement,” White said.
