OPSEC Alert

[ibetiny]

I know that cell phones are unsecure but I didn't expect it was THIS unsecure yet. It seems that police can "read" your cell phone data during traffic stops and have been doing so for a while. One thing I didn't get from the article was whether or not your phone has to be turned on or not. All your contacts, GPS coordinates, phone lists, recent calls... you get the picture.

Here is the link to the article.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/34/3458.asp

[Mikeg175]

Just pull the battery if your pulled over or want to hide something . Anyone can buy these scanners , it has been on the news , but they keep the lid kind of tight on it . People can get your credit card info , online banking , anything that is in phone , including your billing info . They sit at malls or tourist sites and just scan phones , then they can access your stuff . Most people use the same pwds on all their accounts ( I do , hehe ) , so if they got your phone pwd , then your debit card info , they are into your bank and draining it within minutes .

[Klayton]

This is a little different than hackers, because you have to actually have the cell phone in your possession to download the data.
I would just simply tell the police officer that he does NOT have the right to take posession of my cell phone on the basis of traffic stop. Sorry, all he has to do is write you a ticket if it is your current states law about cell phone useage. You go to court with your cell phone record to prove he was wrong,case closed. NO NEED TO UNCONSTITUTIONALLY SEARCH AND SAVE PERSONAL INFORMATION.

[Mikeg175]

Its the same kind of hack , they are just doing it illegally and trying to use it for legal issue , which is illegal lol . You do not need to be in actual possession of the cell phone , just WI-FI range and it can scan your phone , means they can stop you turn on the scanner type device , take their time , come to car , talk to you , come back and it's down loaded without you knowing . That's the part that makes it illegal , if they asked your permission , then hooked it up to download , then your an idiot , but it would be legal . I wouldn't go by the picture on the side , I am sure you can hook it by cord , but it will ( I think , dont hold me to it ) also does it wirelessly . If they are saying it can defeat passwords , then I would really believe they can do it without hooking up , just like the crooks do .

[monkeybird]

I certainly hope that the Michigan law is found to be unconstitutional. It is a blatant encroachment on the 4th amendment:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I believe this is done all the time by people of numerous governmental agencies. The device was developed by someone for a very specific purpose. The Michigan police simply purchased it.

[Mikeg175]

I did a little checking with a LEO friend ( I don't use friend with many people ) and he states that they can be used wirelessly , the cord is faster and allows it to be used in court . It's like a wiretap , you can tap the wire to get info , just can't use it in court . Which means they can download your text , read that your meeting so and so at such and such , then they jump out grab you and your done . When you hand them your phone you are consenting to a search , other then that , you just state you would like your lawyer present and they can't use the cord or anything off the phone at that time . They also have these great tag readers that they just attach to the dash of their car , it reads all the tags as they go by and runs them , it pulls all your info up and if you have warrants or the car is stolen , it will notify the OP and then they run you down . The govt has gotten very high tech at this time , it trickles down to the local LEO's at a slower rate , most of these items are EXPENSIVE ! , so they get one or two and use them to rack up the revenue , most are leased on a trial period , but they show to be effective and then they purchase a few more .

[Klayton]

Rumor has it from my local PD buddy, cops are sharing the nude photos that they get from cell phone stops, internally in their department.

This is insane people!
Somebody needs to stop this BS!

Why is it that it seems more and more common that police and government in general are making unconstitutional moves that is obvious to everybody, but they have to be told to stop by court order. THIS IS INSANE!!

[WiseOwl]

They will have to taze me...I wont put up with the S to the hit...and whats sad, is if Hussein gets elected again, he is going to balls to the wall with this type of nonsense...everywhere

[arcangel911]

WiseOwl, you maybe correct- however there are two issues I look at in this article.

1.) Some of these "taps" were opened by the whole Home Land security debacle when Bush Junior was in power. The "rules" for these kinds of Operations and Taps were not clearly defined in any court of law, and still are not.
2.) The Republican party doesn't seem to have many willing to stand at bat at the moment to run. Or IMHO- I haven't found any I liked, other than Ron Paul. Donald Trump is also an interesting idea, but I don't know how he will or would run this country.

[RRRRDC]

this is very disturbing to me! surely there is a way to stop this.i will look more into it. in the mean time are there any tech savy people here that know how i can make sure the cell phone company isnt tracking my every move but still use my phone. ive heard foil lined bag, remove the batt. etc. i was thinking of a better way. maybe the only real answer is to just lose the phone

[Tarakian]

IMO, the only real way to make sure that no one can access your cell phone data is to not have one. The second best is to use 'burner' phones. Prepaid cell phones purchased with cash, using prepaid minutes also purchased with cash. Be prepared to replace them often, with new numbers, etc.

[2682nscovell]

Very disturbing, I don't think it will pass and if it does pass; it won't work.

[Bearman202]

I saw a similar article on the national news where the anchor took a picture of her kid, and sent it to a friend. Someone in the middle was able to pick it up, and read the GPS coords that went with the picture. i.e. they could locate the kid in about three minutes. That was pretty scary to me. Imagine what a pedophile would do with that. There are ways to turn off the GPS part, and I suggest that everyone do it. I don't take pictures with my phone at all, so it's not an issue to me.

In a related story, they have had the ability for a while now to listen to any conversation within reach of a cell phone WHETHER IT'S TURNED ON OR NOT. I don't remember whether it mattered if the battery was in it, but I don't think it did. After all, if you take the battery out, the phone numbers you have stored in the phone don't get deleted, so there is probably a back-up battery in the phone itself that would allow someone to listen in. I'm not all that paranoid about it, mainly because if someone was taking the time to listen in to my conversations they would have too much time on their hands anyway. :-) The biggest thing about that bothers me is that I spent 12 years in the USAF "fighting communism" and I'm really starting to feel like we lost. Remember, it was GWB who rammed the "patriot act" through, and that created the KGB, er, I mean, the Department of Homeland Security. Fooey.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

IThe biggest thing about that bothers me is that I spent 12 years in the USAF "fighting communism" and I'm really starting to feel like we lost.

We lost on 9-11
They won no matter what we do to the countries where they are now, we lost. They wanted to detroy what we had and they accomplished it over time with this attack. The long term effects have been more devastating in terms of freedom, not lives or sacrifice, but freedom more than even they hoped for. They have grown in numbers by leaps and bounds with each news report and gained strength in growing fear especially from slightly paranoid communties such as LEOs, Intell, Military and even Survivalist.
I remember people stating they wanted the National Guard on the streets doing roadblocks and I screamed loudly "no you don't" Freedoms will be lost soon enough. We are a Nation of reactionaries, when something bad happens we demand action, no matter what or if it's right, just look at gun control. Semi Auto high cap mag ban right after the pres was shot with a revolver is a great example.
We got our cherry popped with a true major terrorist attack on our soil and "lost" some of the freedoms we cherished so much and the trend will continue with each event.
Doesn't mean we give up, but acceptance of modifications to our freedoms is what Americans demanded to catch those responsible. Now it's an oh shoot moment and to late it's realized that this not the answer. Ask yourself why make a phone that can do that? Don't blame LEOs, don't look for a politician, ask yourself that question of a private venture phone company who gains what from doing that? Thats right what do they gain? No one aksed them to, so why? Of course LEOs and intell agencies are gonna take avantage of it but why did the company make it to begin with?
You can ditch phones all day but what are you ditching each time you post? Ask a PI how hard it is to find someone, if it was hard they would be out of business folks.
Last but not least, if your that worried about it, buy one of them pistol safe boxes that can mount in the car. You get pulled over drop it in shut the lid and now a warrant is needed. I would love someone to look at mine, maybe they can tell me something about that dang thing LOL, all i wanna do is talk to the kids, wife and folks everything else is stuff that can be done without, man i'm boring even to myself