For Second Year in a Row, Markey Investigation Reveals More Than One Million Requests By Law Enforcement for Americans’ Mobile Phone Data by Sen. Edward Markey.
From the post:
As part of his ongoing investigation into wireless surveillance of Americans by law enforcement, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today released responses from eight major wireless carriers that reveals expanded use of wireless surveillance of Americans, including more than one million requests for the personal mobile phone data of Americans in 2012 by law enforcement. This total may well represent tens or hundreds of thousands more actual individuals due to the law enforcement practice of requesting so-called “cell phone tower dumps” in which carriers provide all the phone numbers of mobile phone users that connect with a tower during a specific period of time. Senator Markey began his investigation last year, revealing 1.3 million requests in 2011 for wireless data by federal, state, and local law enforcement. In this year’s request for information, Senator Markey expanded his inquiry to include information about emergency requests for information, data retention policies, what legal standard –whether a warrant or a lower standard — is used for each type of information request, and the costs for fulfilling requests. The responses received by Senator Markey reveal surveillance startling in both volume and scope.
If you think the telco’s are donating your data, think again.
Sen. Markey reports that in 2012:
- AT&T received $10 million
- T-Mobile received $11 million
- Verizon less than $5 million
Does that make you wonder how much Google, Microsoft and others got paid for their assistance?
If the top technology companies are going to profit from a police state, why shouldn’t the average citizen?
If you find evidence of stock or wire fraud, there should be a series of information data exchanges where both the government and the parties in questions can bid for your information.
It would create an incentive system for common folks to start looking for and collecting information on criminal wrong doing.
Not to mention that it would create competition to insure the holders of such information get a fair price.
Before you protest too much, remember the financial industry and others are selling your data right now, today.
Turn about seems like fair play to me.