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If You're Near the Scene of a Crime, Authorities Can Demand That Google Hand Over Your Data


Muda69

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https://reason.com/2019/08/13/if-youre-near-the-scene-of-a-crime-authorities-can-demand-that-google-hand-over-your-data/

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Last October, if you happened to be near the scene where some right-wing Proud Boys got into a fight with Antifa activists on New York City's Upper East Side, the Manhattan District Attorney's office may have collected your phone number and location at the time—without your knowledge.

Two members of the Proud Boys are on trial and several others have already pleaded guilty to rioting and disorderly conduct charges in connection with the fight. During the trial last week, an investigator with the DA's office testified that they had gotten what's called a "reverse location" search warrant demanding that Google cough up location information on people who had Android phones or used Google Maps near the scene. This warrant included many people who have no connection to the case—the technological equivalent of doing a house-to-house search for evidence connected to a crime in that neighborhood.

Gothamist reported that Google sent them an anonymized list of Google device identifications. Investigators cross-referenced location data and the IDs in order to narrow down those with multiple appearances in the area. They got the list to just two or three records that matched what they were looking for. On further investigation, though, they discovered that even those individuals were not connected to the case.

 

While this is the first time the public has been informed that these types of searches are happening in New York, the city didn't pioneer this technique. Aaron Mak over at Slatereported in February on the growing trend of police and prosecutors turning to Google with warrants in hand, demanding data. Authorities are collecting phone numbers and locations in large numbers, and then trying to narrow down the information to likely suspects.

....

Google has responded to Mak that they resist overly broad requests when possible and require warrants for their cooperation. And police defend their actions by noting that they're agreeing to the anonymized process until they narrow down to a couple of actual suspects.

Still, we should be concerned that police and prosecutors are quietly, secretly demanding phone data as a fishing expedition and that they're getting private information about thousands upon thousands of people who are not suspected of a crime. Gothamist and Slate both spoke with privacy advocates who have concerns. 

The slippery slope of the police state continues unabated.

 

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