If it's not a flag, it must be a terrorist

Via the Electronic Frontier Foundation, some disturbing, but not surprising information about the wanton abuse of telco data by law enforcement.

At a recent conference known as "ISS World" - where ISS is an acronym for the otherwise Orwellian "Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception, Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Gathering" - Sprint's Manager of Electronic Surveillance commented that in the past 13 months, the communications conglomerate had received 8 million requests from law enforcement for precise GPS location data revealing the location and movement of Sprint customers.

8 million. In 13 months.

Full disclosure: I'm a member of EFF.

More full disclosure: I'm really pissed about this. And you should be, too.

As noted in the EFF story:

Sprint received over 8 million requests for its customers' information in the past 13 months. That doesn't count requests for basic identification and billing information, or wiretapping requests, or requests to monitor who is calling who, or even requests for less-precise location data based on which cell phone towers a cell phone was in contact with. That's just GPS. And, that's not including legal requests from civil litigants, or from foreign intelligence investigators. That's just law enforcement. And, that's not counting the few other major cell phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. That's just Sprint.

The surveillance society under which we live is simply staggering. There's absolutely no activity in which you're engaged that isn't being tracked, logged, recorded, or captured in some manner.

This used to be the kind of scenario reserved for the big screen. Who needs a Tom Cruise movie that's based on the premise of police being able to pinpoint future crimes, empowered to arrest the prospective perp before the crime occurs, when reality is far more frightening?

EFF poses the following question: Is this type of behavior consistent with a free society and American values?

The answer is no. And since this type of surveillance continues, unchecked, the logical conclusion is that we no longer live in a free society, and that American values have been tossed aside like week-old bread under the guise of protecting America.

Freedom was nice while it lasted.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Baltimore: Voyeurism and Privacy Violations Can Lower Crime

After the kerfuffle about the warrantless spying by agencies under the Bush administration, coupled with the numerous stories concerning the FBI overreaching their authority and other law enforcement officials trampling on the privacy rights of individuals all in the name of safety and security, one would surmise that any new initiatives that had privacy implications would be greeted with a skeptical, if not hostile, response.

So why does Baltimore Transit want to install microphones to record all conversations on their buses and trains?

Set aside for a moment the cinema-concept that criminals have migrated to city public transportation to meet with Lex Luthor to plan how to bring Metropolis to its' knees. What are the odds that someone will be listening at the exact moment some criminal act is mentioned, and that they will be able to action it in a sufficient timeframe as to prevent the crime in the first place? Sounds a bit like a recent Tom Cruise movie. And not a good one, either.

What about the privacy aspects? Do I give up all expectations to privacy while on a city bus? How about the person on the other end of my cell phone call - do I need to warn them that my half of the call is being recorded and archived for an unknown amount of time? And how usable will the recordings be, especially if twenty people are talking at the same time, mixed with the usual sounds that accompany mass transit?

This is a stupid idea that wastes precious financial resources in a time of crushing fiscal circumstances. It will neither reduce crime nor will it accomplish anything except lining the coffers of those vendors who will sell, install, and maintain the recording systems.

I'd lose my job if I spent money this way without showing significant results. Baltimore should be held to the same standard.

Baltimore transit wants to use microphones to record all conversations on trains and buses, via BoingBoing

Image by mab via flickr