coastal
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 2,203
- Reaction score
- 4,717
Not to worry. It's legal, thanks to AT&T and a thing called "Project Hemisphere". I'll attach some links FYI, but the short version is that AT&T provides LE with "metadata" it collects, which data can be reconstructed to identify individuals as well as specific data usage, history, etc. -for a (sizeable) fee. The "project" part, IMO, is the agreement AT&T makes with "government", to not publicly disclose the use of Hemisphere data, which means that any suspect or evidence discovered via said data, can not be tried using it. Which leads to a thing called "parallel construction", the method by which LE must re-"discover" the "evidence" from legal sources.
See:
http://www.ocweekly.com/news/mcstay-...ations-7621535
McStay Family Slayings Arise in AT&T For-Profit Spying Revelations
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016 AT 6:33 A.M.
>>>snip
A connection between AT&T's massiveand for-profitsecret spying program and the beating deaths of a San Clemente businessman and his family?
Welcome to the brave new world...
...Despite the comfort Merritt's arrest has brought to the friends and loved ones of the deceased, the idea that a private company like AT&T is profiting off taxpayer-funded spying on Americans is raising red flags. As Merritt writes:
Hemisphere isnt a partnership but rather a product AT&T developed, marketed, and sold at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers. No warrant is required to make use of the companys massive trove of data, according to AT&T documents, only a promise from law enforcement to not disclose Hemisphere if an investigation using it becomes public.
These new revelations come as the company seeks to acquire Time Warner in the face of vocal opposition saying the deal would be bad for consumers. Donald Trump told supporters over the weekend he would kill the acquisition if hes elected president; Hillary Clinton has urged regulators to scrutinize the deal.
...The for-profit spying program that these documents detail is more terrifying than the illegal NSA surveillance programs that Edward Snowden exposed," says campaign director Evan Greer in a statement. "Far beyond the NSA and FBI, these tools are accessible to a wide range of law enforcement officers including local police, without a warrant, as long as they pay up. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it...
(article continues)
<<<snip
Also,
http://boingboing.net/2016/10/26/att...product-f.html
12:04 AM WED OCT 26, 2016
>>>snip
...Because the data was sold by AT&T and not compelled by government, all of the Hemisphere surveillance was undertaken without a warrant or judicial review (indeed, it's likely judges were never told the true story of where the data being entered into evidence by the police really came from -- again, something that routinely happened before the existence of Stingray surveillance was revealed).
The millions given to AT&T for its customers' data came from the federal government under the granting program that also allowed city and town police forces to buy military equipment for civilian policing needs. Cities paid up to a million dollars a year for access to AT&T's customer records.
EFF is suing the US government to reveal DoJ records on the use of Hemisphere data...
(article continues)
<<<snip
And:
http://www.talkandroid.com/304056-at...y-on-citizens/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/1...e-phone-spying
So. We can't know what LE might know about any data gotten via phone data, but we may suppose that they are using every resource available to them, including Project Hemisphere.
