More Demands on Cell Carriers in Surveillance

[IDemo]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — In the first public accounting of its kind, cellphone carriers reported that they responded to a startling 1.3 million demands for subscriber information last year from law enforcement agencies seeking text messages, caller locations and other information in the course of investigations.

The cellphone carriers’ reports, which come in response to a Congressional inquiry, document an explosion in cellphone surveillance in the last five years, with the companies turning over records thousands of times a day in response to police emergencies, court orders, law enforcement subpoenas and other requests.

The reports also reveal a sometimes uneasy partnership with law enforcement agencies, with the carriers frequently rejecting demands that they considered legally questionable or unjustified. At least one carrier even referred some inappropriate requests to the F.B.I.

The information represents the first time data have been collected nationally on the frequency of cell surveillance by law enforcement. The volume of the requests reported by the carriers — which most likely involve several million subscribers — surprised even some officials who have closely followed the growth of cell surveillance.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/us/cell-carriers-see-uptick-in-requests-to-aid-surveillance.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

[stockholmer]

1. spy, spy, miss American spy..............................

[Dustlawyer]

2. We are witnessing the fall of our society. Very sad.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. What are the odds that there is a high correlation between individual departments that abuse and

threaten to abuse their citizens with Tasers, mace, and military-type of equipment like tanks with the number of surveillance calls?

[Trillo]

4. If cell phones aren't private, then why are they paid for privately?

Just another money scam.

[Swede Atlanta]

5. Back to flags on hilltops....

the freaking government can nose in on any communication you have whether it is with your lawyer, your spouse, your mistress, your accountant, etc. Under the guise of "terror" we have abandoned our basic right to be free from "unlawful seizures". When will the American public stand up and refuse in the streets? In this regard Obama is as bad as the worst of the Bushies. He loves having his control over the American people.

We need to push back and push back hard. Maybe we all cancel our cell contracts and start writing letters. Let the NSA start sniffing our hand-written letters.