Secret Service Says You Agreed To Be Tracked With Location Data (404media.co)
- Reference: 0175461765
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/11/13/1132245/secret-service-says-you-agreed-to-be-tracked-with-location-data
- Source link: https://www.404media.co/email/f459caa7-1a58-4f31-a9ba-3cb53a5046a4/
> Officials inside the Secret Service [1]clashed over whether they needed a warrant to use location data harvested from ordinary apps installed on smartphones, with some arguing that citizens have agreed to be tracked with such data by accepting app terms of service, despite those apps often not saying their data may end up with the authorities, according to hundreds of pages of internal Secret Service emails obtained by 404 Media.
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> The emails provide deeper insight into the agency's use of Locate X, a powerful surveillance capability that allows law enforcement officials to follow a phone, and person's, precise movements over time at the click of a mouse. In 2023, a government oversight body found that the Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement all used their access to such location data illegally. The Secret Service told 404 Media in an email last week it is no longer using the tool. "If USSS [U.S. Secret Service] is using Locate X, that is most concerning to us," one of the internal emails said. 404 Media obtained them and other documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Secret Service.
[1] https://www.404media.co/email/f459caa7-1a58-4f31-a9ba-3cb53a5046a4/
Re: (Score:2)
Secret services or secret laws. FISA needs a major revision
Re: (Score:2)
> Democratic countries shouldn't have any type of "secret services" anyhow.
So democratic countries shouldn't have a service that protects elected politicians or hunts down counterfeiting operations?
Re: (Score:3)
Like the automobile before it, owning a smart phone is now a basic precondition of a "normal" life. Increasingly, you can't communicate, work, or access services without one. There are only a few suppliers of hardware. There's effectively only two suppliers of the operating system. There's a million entities trying to get access to your data, and participating in all manner of shenanigans to ensure that access.
Like so many problems before it, this is a problem that ordinary people and "markets" can't re
Use Web Apps through your browser (Score:2)
It's all literally the same thing anyway. Why would you not?
Privacy no longer exists (Score:2)
There are too many sources of tracking data, from phones to home electronics to license plate readers, to facial recognition, to OS and browser tracking to car tracking. Attempts at whack-a-mole to eliminate these have always been doomed to failure because of the nearly limitless possible methods of tracking. The US public hasn't effectively pushed for an overall ban on tracking - whether due to a lack of caring, a lack of understanding, or an inability to find the right political levers is unclear. The
TBH I think we want this warrantless (Score:2)
I think the only way the public is going to give a damn about privacy as a real political issue is if the legal standard is "yeah, you have literally no 4th amendment protection from active location surveillance if you agree to the ToS."
Where's the agreement (Score:2)
when you virtually need a cellphone to lead a normal life today and there's no alternative to submitting to corporate surveillance when you use one?
I didn't agree to being tracked in any way, shape or form. I have no choice.
The Crux Of Privacy Data Issues (Score:5, Insightful)
This is why we don't have data privacy in the US. Law enforcement agencies fight it because they can purchase this data you agreed to hand over. Companies exist to make money selling your data. Big Business and law enforcement usually get what they want. They've upheld before agencies can use this third party data. 4th Amendment doesn't apply outside of your home. They've decided this in courts.
It's only going to get worse.
Re: (Score:2)
Sadly to the point FP. I was really hoping for a bit of levity. Even though the story is not intrinsically funny.
Okay, so I'll try to be part of the solution!
> But of course they won't track anyone who doesn't deserve to be tracked!
ROFLMAO.
Re: The Crux Of Privacy Data Issues (Score:2)
To play devils advocate- if one agrees to the commercial sale of oneâ(TM)s location data to any party at the apps discretion, why would it be illegal for law enforcement to buy that data? After all, you agreed that your app data could be sold to *anyone* at the discretion of the app provider. If you dont like the terms, delete the apps and use tools that do not have these terms and conditions.
This does not appear to be much different legally from employment handbooks or policies where one agrees that p