[Updated] Sprint Revealed GPS Data 8 Million Times To Govt.
UPDATE- Sprint has issued a statement to explain that the high numbers (8 million) represent the number of "pings", not the amount of users accessed. There can be thousands of pings per a single investigation. In a single investigation, once law enforcement has a court order, it can check someone's location every 3 minutes for up to 60 days -- and that's what made the number so inflated.
Sprint has revealed GPS data 8 million times between September 2008 and October 2009 to the U.S. Government for various reasons. This article, which I highly recommend reading, details everything that occurred. The best part of all this? Not only did they charge the government for the information, Sprint apparently set up some sort of portal that made such requests easier to handle.
Video of admission after the break.
The video below is of Paul Taylor, Manager of Sprint's Electronic Surveillance Team, admitting the release of information.
Source- Slight Paranoia via TechDirt
The government has a large partnership with Sprint, Census Bureau, President’s WM phone, U.S. Gov’ts private surveillance network, etc down to network location option in the phones settings. So I’m not surprised.
BIG BROTHER is out there and watching everyone’s every move. Some say if you have nothing to hide, then what do you care? To those I say, You have no clue!
Doesn’t surprise me that Sprint is Colluding sp? with the Government. And so to is probably every other Carrier.
I guess the Government of Earth will have to get Extraterrestial help to handle all of the I-Spy info that is Streaming in
Didn’t I see this on Batman
LOL I mean if you really think about it we do carry a tracking device. As soon has i heard of the first cell phone with build in GPS the first thing that came to mind was there goes are freedom. But really there is not way to fight the government. We as American always think that we are bad sh!t, but we are always getting FCK right at home and most people are too stupid to realize it. This is just one of them. I don’t mind the they have this system in place, but what really get me upset is that the telcom company are making money out of thing which means more taxs we have to pay to cover for this type of Sh1t. anyway sorry for the cruse words but i was so upset when i read the article and feeling so helpless with my hands tight and mouth taped up.
I hear you. It is very frustrating, but as you said, most people are too stupid to realize that their freedoms are being eroded slowly but surely. By the time they realize this, if they ever do, it will be too late.
Just come and live in New York City to really see what it means to have your freedoms eroding away. But yet agian, most NYC Residents are too Stupid to realize this.
Who cares… I mean if I die I am dead… It doesn’t matter what the government does… We can’t really stop them so I won’t waste time worrying over it… Spy on me it’s cool…
I am assuming the majority of these requests are 911 related, missing persons, etc etc.
This will come in very handy once skynet takes over.
This is a surprise to anyone? If you are that paranoid, pay cash for a pre-paid. America is still a pretty decent place to call home.
Post has been updated to reflect Sprint’s statement on this issue..
Seriously, when is the last time any of you have ever had your freedom infringed upon by allowing the government access to your phone’s GPS? I’m sure there aren’t many of you, and if so then you probably deserved it. There is always a price to pay to increase security.
I was kinda surprised to see your story got picked up by engadget.
It is important to note law enforcement uses for GPS location services.
“There are four circumstances under which law enforcement agents can use the Sprint website and obtain GPS data: 1) under the authority of a court order; 2) to track the location of a customer who has made a 911 call; 3) in an emergency situation, such as tracking someone lost in the wilderness or trying to locate an abducted child or hostage; 4) with a customer’s consent.” (From Sprint response in Wired article)
If you fall under #2 or #3, you are probably extremely thankful Sprint did this. If you fall under #1, you get what you deserve for breaking the law! #4, well, that is just kinda weird but hey it probably is used for something.
This Big Brother stuff is generally nonsense and sensational. The original article and this post should be take into consideration the context of the usage.
Did Paul Taylor do a poor job of representing what the data was to the public? Yes, but he wasn’t talking to the public. Was he in a closed conference where audience members were invited and had an understanding of the subject matter to know what the number meant? Yes.
Lastly, will this article cause me to have a headache at work tomorrow explaining GPS on phones? Most undoubtedly yes