You can't make this stuff up

As if in response to the last entry, the Washington Post provides a little article on Cellphone Tracking Powers on Request, Secret Warrants Granted Without Probable Cause. The content of the article is hauntingly familiar to the exact same behavior by DOJ relating to their new wiretap powers. To summarize:

Often, Gidari said, federal agents tell a carrier they need real-time tracking data in an emergency but fail to follow up with the required court approval. Justice Department officials said to the best of their knowledge, agents are obtaining court approval unless the carriers provide the data voluntarily.

This same "we need it now!" attitude where access to information requiring a warrant is made with the promise that such permission will be gained post-facto. Guess they just forget.

As an added bonus, the DOJ has a proposal in place that will provide automated access to high resolution gps tracing information. With the promise:

"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."

that they will not track the movement of law-abiding citizens. Just who would that be? Such a statement is pure bullshit and we all know it. Law abiding citizens are those people that law enforcement deems so. They are not people who make noise or question the government or assert their rights or anything of the sort. And if you are poor or black or Latino you are doubly fucked. Lay abiding citizens shut the fuck up and buy a new television already.

There is such a rich history of law enforcement violating this basic principle that it would take thousands of hours to even begin documenting it.

-Tin-Foil hats on!-
If you have a cell phone, they can track your movement to within 30 feet. With a little work it can be turned on and used as a portable remote listening device. Technology is a two edged mechanism - it is undeniably useful, but sometimes at a significant cost.
-Tin-Foil hats off!-

I will go hide under my bed now.