Six months of mobile records disclosure reveals how carriers are really up in your business

posted by Daniel P. / Aug 02, 2012, 7:50 AM

Six months of mobile records disclosure reveals how carriers are really up in your business

A German Green Party politician fought for and obtained the mobile records that Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile, or really any carrier, collects about us.

Triangulations of your whereabouts with great precision, incoming and outgoing calls and duration, sent and received texts, as well as Internet sessions records and duration, these are plotted in a brilliant interactive infographic in the source link below, showing that carrier records, which can be fairly easily obtained by law enforcement, and even by private companies, are even better than any Big Brother-type organization could have ever hoped for.

The guy also spoke at a TED Talk session about it, and we are embedding his narrative below. Strolling along the infographic follows him from a coffee shop to work, to vacation, and we know the exact date and time he's been there, and who, when and for how long he talked, texted or surfed. Not that any of us can do much about it, it is just too lucrative of a system for tracking.

source: ZeitOnline via AndroidCentral

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8 Comments

1. Droid_X_Doug

Posts: 5993; Member since: Dec 22, 2010

Welcome to 1984. Just shy of 30 years delayed. Now, what was this 'Right to Privacy' thing that is supposed to be part of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution?

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 7:58 AM 5

3. remixfa

Posts: 14605; Member since: Dec 19, 2008

if you think thats bad, the Obama admin (imagined by the Bush admin, followed through by the Obama admin) is knee deep in a US Citizen tracking facility build out in Utah that is designed to track all incoming internet, phone, text, and whatever else data on every person, catalog it and file it away for later use as well as to look for "patterns". They are not tracking criminals.. they are not tracking terrorists.. they are tracking EVERY US Citizen that does ANYTHING through the internet/cell phone. 1984 has never been so real. "Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter." " the center will handle—financial information, stock transactions, business deals, foreign military and diplomatic secrets, legal documents, confidential personal communications" " ....not only governments around the world but also many average computer users in the US. The upshot, according to this official: “Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”" http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 10:08 AM 1

4. remixfa

there is no privacy or rights anymore.. only the illusion of such. The constitution is on its death bed, only a little more government "beneficence" and we will be pulling its plug.

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 10:09 AM 1

2. RagingCalm

Posts: 12; Member since: Jun 22, 2012

Youve gotta ask yourself why they need that information. If youre not a convicted felon you should be exempt from location, call and message tracking, its that simple.

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 9:59 AM 2

5. MorePhonesThanNeeded

Posts: 645; Member since: Oct 23, 2011

Don't get a cell phone, plain and simple. I wonder if any of this is illegal at all? If it isn't and it supported by law then what exactly can we supposedly do? Mind you in most major metropolis there are cameras in public areas which can also be used. So if you are that paranoid about being watched you might want to stay home and not put anything in your name, because you are always being watched be it by your neighbors or by companies you do business with. Problem with the U.S. is the country is too big and with it's open door policy, even people who hate this country can waltz in the front door. They are afforded civil rights even though their main objective is to snuff out others' lives for whatever reason they can make stick in their minds, to make matters worse you have jaded natives who sympathize with their cause and aid them. This is why we are in this ridiculous spying on your own people because when push comes to shove even the most die hard will switch sides for his/her own personal benefit. Our lives are private, well semi private. With all this technology around, it's hard for anything to remain private for long. What are we going to do? If your life is an open book and you don't have anything to hide then them seeing where you are and have been means absolutely nothing, unless of course they are looking to snatch you on your routine route and replace you with a perfect duplicate, lol. Science fiction FTW! I was sure that VZW destroys their records of your location and the like after a few months or something to that effect. There probably have been people who used the cell phone positioning to get them out of trouble. I wasn't at x location at such a time because I placed a call from z location which is 30+ miles away and my cell provider can vouch that the call was placed from my phone which I had on me whilst I was buying milk and skittles at the 7/11. Two sides to every thing, but meh. Got bigger things to worry about that my cell company knowing where the hell I am. I do hope that the courts force cell providers to keep these files confidential while in their possession and once the allotted time is past all of it must be deleted only to be kept if the customer so chooses after the allotted company holding period.

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 11:24 AM 0

6. DontHateOnS60

Posts: 872; Member since: Apr 20, 2009

Who cares. If they use it to help improve the network, awesome. If they use it to protect the public from terrorists, awesome. What are you all so upset about? Unless you're planning on overthrowing the government, killing someone, or smuggling drugs and weapons, you have nothing to be worried about. So a guy knows you spend 4 days a week talking about banging your wife and spending another 3 at a strip club. What's he going go do with that info? When we have a tracking device in our ass when we're born, then its time to get all upset. You don't have to own a phone, remember?

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 11:51 AM 0

7. remixfa

people like this are the exact reason our rights are being trampled to begin with its not about "if your not a criminal". Its about your CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS to privacy and against illegal search and seizure without a warrant. When the government no longer abides by the constitution, ALL OF YOUR RIGHTS ARE FORFEIT. Its already begun, and as long as idiots keep making rationalizations like yours, we will continue to quickly slide down this path to a government that dominates instead of protects and serves its public. The constitution was designed specifically to LIMIT government and to PROTECT citizens FROM government. You need a civics 101 and a world & US history course immediately. Government and freedom do not coexist, they are opposites. The more you have of one, the less you have of the other.

posted on Aug 02, 2012, 12:18 PM 2

8. jmoita2

Posts: 930; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

Well said, Remixfa. According to the US Constitution, collecting all this info on anyone requires both probable cause AND a warrant. I should know, I'm a Criminal Justice major.