How Law Enforcement Can Use Google Timeline To Track Your Every Move

[marble falls]

https://theintercept.com/2015/11/06/how-law-enforcement-can-use-google-timeline-to-track-your-every-move/

How Law Enforcement Can Use Google Timeline To Track Your Every Move
Jana Winter

Nov. 6 2015, 8:53 a.m.

THE RECENT EXPANSION of Google’s Timeline feature can provide investigators unprecedented access to users’ location history data, allowing them in many cases to track a person’s every move over the course of years, according to a report recently circulated to law enforcement.

“The personal privacy implications are pretty clear but so are the law enforcement applications,” according to the document, titled “Google Timelines: Location Investigations Involving Android Devices,” which outlines the kind of information investigators can now obtain.

The Timeline allows users to look back at their daily movements on a map; that same information is also potentially of interest to law enforcement. “It is now possible to submit a legal demand to Google for location history greater than six months old,” the report says. “This could revitalize cold cases and potentially help solve active investigations.”

<snip>



“Consider including Gmail, photos and videos, search history, contacts, applications, other connected devices, Google Voice and Google Wallet, if they are relevant to the investigation,” the report suggests. Investigators are also advised to include a non-disclosure order with their search warrants for Google data, which prevents the company from notifying the account holder that their data is being provided to law enforcement.

<snip>


Intelligence gathering is now ready to be privatized.

[lpbk2713]

1. I enjoy the simple life.

A plain old white bread flip phone and NO social networking.

And I don't feel like I am missing out on a thing.

[femmocrat]

3. Same here.

No one can track my cell phone location if it is always turned off. LOL

[VanillaRhapsody]

8. They can listen to your phone even when it is off....

[femmocrat]

9. Really?

Ha.... they would be very bored then!

[Ex Lurker]

10. Not if you remove the battery NT

[itsrobert]

4. You don't have to have a smart phone to be tracked

Your phone while on is constantly pinging the wireless network. The data can be easily used to track you.

[still_one]

7. Actually, if you have a phone with a removable battery, you can just remove the battery, but that is

becoming more rare today.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. I see the creation of companies that will leave false data trails for you for a fee.

They do not 'condone' committing crimes, but merely offer a service to provide google trails to 'show' you were busy surfing the web from a hotspot in place x during time period y.

[marym625]

5. K&R!

[still_one]

6. Just don't turn it on, problem solved. A lot of folks have Facebook and twitter accounts, and throw

out all kinds of information about themselves, and then don't understand why big brother is able to monitor what you are doing, or what you have done.

If folks are worried about things like that, then don't connect

[cui bono]

11. But then we're still losing our constitutional right to privacy.

I think what we need is stricter laws on data collection as well as enforcement of our privacy rights with the government.

[still_one]

18. That may be, but since I don't allow these services to "follow me", I won't give them the

opportunity to track me via those services, though there is no doubt they can use other methods, including internet usage, or surveillance cameras throughout most cities.

[cui bono]

19. Yes, unfortunately it is pervasive.

It's too bad because I think people just give up because of that. I hope someone keeps up the good fight. Sadly, kids are growing up with their lives all out in public so I'm not sure there's any chance of keeping the right to privacy alive.

[hobbit709]

12. Simple solution-don't use any of those features, turn them OFF.

My cell phone is only used to make or receive calls. Wifi and Bluetooth are set to OFF. I've never set up Google for anything on it. There's only about 12 people that even have my number. The music I have on it I downloaded directly from my computer. Any pictures I take with it are uploaded directly to my computer through the USB cable. 90% of the time it's turned OFF.

I don't feel the need to be on FB or other social media 24/7. When I walk out the door I don't care about emails.

[Nye Bevan]

13. None of that matters. They can still track you.

Even with wifi off your phone is constantly "pinging" cell towers and they can triangulate this data to get your location.

[hobbit709]

15. My phone is OFF 90% of the time, not just wifi.

[PasadenaTrudy]

16. Not realistic

for most people nowadays.

[hobbit709]

17. Would be for those not addicted to social media.

[cui bono]

20. It's not just social media. People use their phones for work constantly these days.

[hobbit709]

21. Yeah, down at the local coffeeshop where they hang out for hours

[cui bono]

22. Are those people working? I know many people, including myself, that need to use the phone for work.

Just because you don't seem to know this does not make it false.

It's pretty ridiculous that you don't believe it. Maybe you live in a very rural area but here in Los Angeles it is extremely common.

Edit: I see you live in "stoned". No wonder you don't see it.

[hobbit709]

23. Most of the working people I know don't spend much time on their cell phone.

And L.A. isn't real either. There's a million people in Austin now.

[cui bono]

24. Most of the working people I know need to use their phones for work.

Damn, if I'm living in a fantasy you'd think I'd have made it a better one.

[marble falls]

14. They can count dimples on golf balls from a satilite. The only thing that gives me hope is the .....

shear volume and noise of information thrown around and collected. How do they sift through it?

I think we're going to become the new Ceausescu/Romania with 1/4 of the population is involved somehow with gathering information about and providing state security for the other 3/4 of the population Or East German. All in the name of State Security.

Its amazing how much of it is privatized. There's a new big industry if the Teapublicans decide to privatize NSA, CIA.

Google and Facebook will be there to fill the bill.