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NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

washingtonpost.com

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Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#41

Post by sneak »

lukev wrote: post #12
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #7

So the deal modern man was presented with was this: we'll give you instant global communication for pennies, but in return governments and corporations will closely monitor everyone on the planet: where they are, who they call, how long the call is, their texts, messages, and other communications -- basically their thoughts. We'll record this forever to use as we choose. Trust us. As a global population, we seem to h…

Sure you can! Join the 60% of the world's population that _don't use the internet at all_. Or the 20% of the population of the _US_ that don't use the internet. You can even still use a cell phone, if you want - just buy a prepaid mobile with cash. And aside from awkwardness with your friends, you might even find such a life quite livable. You'll experience no material hardship.

> You'll experience no material hardship.

You sound like a person who hasn't moved a long distance from their family.

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#42

Post by _wmd »

judk wrote: post #6
angersock wrote: post #3

From the article: NSA Director Keith Alexander disclosed in Senate testimony in October that the NSA had run a pilot project in 2010 and 2011 to collect “samples” of U.S. cellphone location data. The data collected were never available for intelligence analysis purposes, and the project was discontinued because it had no “operational value,” he said. Alexander allowed that a broader collection of such data “may be so…

Google Maps does this. The only difference is that Google informs you before you turn on location services.

Within GSM any interconnected network can query at least the country of any other network's customers' handsets. It's needed for routing roaming calls, but the data is generally quite easy accessible.

There are many commercial services offering lookups (google "HLR lookup")

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#43

Post by [deleted] »

theg2 wrote: post #21
contingencies wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did anyone else read that and think of that scene in Enemy of the State ? It's eerily equivalent. "Treadstone! Ahh yes, Treadstone. Treadstone was a pilot project to . It's all but decomissioned at this point."

Treadstone is from The Bourne Identity isn't it?

[deleted]

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#44

Post by wiredfool »

ParkerK wrote: post #24
MrZongle2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that Google isn't limited by the Constitution in the ways that the Federal government supposedly is.

>And that Google isn't limited by the Constitution I'm pretty sure it is...

Google is (modulo the corporation/person thingy) granted rights under the Constitution.

The Constitution only limits Google to the extent that it's the basis for the system of laws that do the limiting.

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#45

Post by stdbrouw »

drcube wrote: post #23
swalsh wrote: post #4

Meta topic, but it seems kind of rude to link to the print page. The washington post is already a very readable site, If i don't want ads, i'll use adblock.

If you don't want people to view something on the public web, don't post it there. This page design is infinitely better than the other one, also linked on the HN front page. Seems like you get a choice. Hooray for freedom!

He's saying it's rude (not despicable or forbidden) to link to this page when putting it in front of a big crowd (not e.g. when viewing it on your own). Your comment is therefore entirely beside the point.

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#46

Post by aroch »

drcube wrote: post #23
swalsh wrote: post #4

Meta topic, but it seems kind of rude to link to the print page. The washington post is already a very readable site, If i don't want ads, i'll use adblock.

If you don't want people to view something on the public web, don't post it there. This page design is infinitely better than the other one, also linked on the HN front page. Seems like you get a choice. Hooray for freedom!

We all know that's not swalsh's point. WaPo is doing us a public service by reporting on all of this, we should encourage such reporting by giving them the ad-revenue from out views.

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#47

Post by sukuriant »

lukev wrote: post #35
sukuriant wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed on the 20% of the population of the US that doesn't use the internet. Is there even 20% of the US population outside of 100 miles from the shore? Also, you can't use a cellphone without them knowing who you are with high certainty. It only takes 3 points of location data to identify a person the vast majority of the time[1]. Using a cell phone that you paid for with cash is insufficient. [1] http://ww…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_... So actually 19%, yes.

... wow. I sincerely didn't expect that number to be accurate at all. Okay then!

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#48

Post by cryoshon »

Isn't this one of the big reveals that we've been waiting for-- that they are attempting to track our physical movement? With this geographical information history, their ability to smash dissent without physical force is unparalleled, given that nearly everyone has visited a sketchy location at one time or another.

Doesn't this revelation prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the USA is even worse than the imagined world of 1984?

Re: NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

#50

Post by swalkergibson »

ParkerK wrote: post #24
MrZongle2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that Google isn't limited by the Constitution in the ways that the Federal government supposedly is.

>And that Google isn't limited by the Constitution I'm pretty sure it is...

Not directly. Google is bound by the statutes enforced by the federal and state governments who are empowered by the Constitution to govern. That is why Google can censor its index to clear it of things it does not like, if it so desired. Additionally, it could establish that the official religion of Google is from here forth Pastafarianism and while that might run afoul of some workplace regulations in certain jurisdictions, there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents Google from doing so.
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