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The FBI Knows Where You Are, Thanks to Your Cell Phone

By Jeremy A. Kaplan

- FOXNews.com

A federal appeals court will begin debating on Friday a privacy issue you probably hadn't considered: the government's ability to track your location at any time, if you carry a cell phone.

A federal appeals court will begin debating on Friday a privacy issue you probably hadn't considered: the government's ability to track your location at any time, if you carry a cell phone.

As cell phones have morphed from cordless communication devices into pocket-sized PCs, cellular providers have developed and honed the ability to pinpoint your location fairly accurately -- potentially to within 150 feet. This helps network operators connect your phone to the nearest cell tower and locate you in an emergency, a federally mandated feature called e911.

That feature could be a lifesaver if your car runs off a rural road on a dark night. But it also enables the authorities to know your location at all times when you're carrying your phone.

"Most people don't understand they are carrying a tracking device in their pockets," Kevin Bankston, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Newsweek.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia will hear arguments on Friday in a case that centers around Philadelphia FBI agent William Shute, who testified that he obtained records 150 times in recent years to track the location of federal fugitives.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union will argue in court Friday that the practice raises serious privacy issues.

Location information is generated when you place a call on your cellular phone; most carriers store that data for a period of time, which varies by carrier.

They don't store the information for long, and they also don't track your location when you're not making calls. But they easily could, says PCMag.com cell phone analyst Sascha Segan.

"At any moment, if your cell phone is on, your provider can tell where you are. Right now, they don't store that bit of information. But if the government makes that a legal requirement, they might have to."

It's technically feasible, Segan explains, and it's not discussed in your cell phone contract. Contracts detail certain privacy regulations, but all are subject to government laws and regulations. A change in the law would supersede your contract.

The Fourth Amendment guards against illegal search and seizure and will be cited frequently in Friday's case, but the "right to privacy," while implied in the Constitution, is not explicitly guaranteed, explains Dr. Abbe Forman, a professor and civil rights expert with the computer and information science department at Temple University's College of Science and Tech.

"Many Americans believe that the Constitution guarantees us the 'right to privacy,' but that's not the case," Forman warned.

She said tracking is a critical tool in emergencies, but she worries that the government may play upon our fears to enhance its snooping powers.

"If we tell people they will be safer because they can be found in case of emergency, most people will look no further for information, even though the great majority of them will never be lost to that extreme," she said.

Of course, you can always turn off the tracking by simply turning off your cell phone.

More . . .

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I think this is a good thing.  The information is often used in search and rescue - of course, often it is too late to do anything bec if the person was alive, they would call to begin with. But last beep location is often used for recovery.

I believe invasion of privacy is a greater problem in the blog and email world.