3 ms·

Can't they already track people that way using car or phone gps?

by soup10 5y ago

kragen 5y ago
That depends on who controls the software running on the car or phone. Determining your position via GPS does not emit any signals that can be detected; it's a purely passive process. If malicious software installed on the phone records the GPS data and later transmits it, then yes. However, cellphones in particular do require the cellphone network to track at least which cell they're in in order to work, so in practice controlling a cellphone network gives you a pretty good idea of where all the subscribers are. This is a big problem, and we need to figure out how to stop it if we are to enjoy the sort of freedom from government surveillance that people everywhere enjoyed since the Paleolithic until about 01998. The 20th-century results of giving too much power to governments are not promising.
shadowgovt 5y ago
Yes, they can. "Reasonable" changes over time, with available technology, and with the tolerance of the public. People don't much care for "We could've stopped that murder / caught that murderer, but we didn't use the resources available." If there's a murder on a street corner, do we expect the cops to not pull camera records from every nearby store with an outward-facing camera?
- irrational 5y ago
  In my experience, cops won’t do any detective work anymore unless it directly affects them. Your house is broken into and the thieves dropped their wallet with their ID? The cops will not follow up on that and get your stuff back. Murder? Hardly.
  - shadowgovt 5y ago
    Murder and theft are treated very differently (but yes, theft is under-prosecuted... The police are under-incentivized to pursue it because insurance usually makes the victim financially whole).
mandelbrotwurst 5y ago
Something doesn’t become a good thing just because it’s possible and/or been happening for a while.
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  In general, it becomes a good thing if it helps more than it harms.

Can't they already track people that way using car or phone gps?

by soup10 5y ago

Can't they already track people that way using car or phone gps?

That depends on who controls the software running on the car or phone. Determining your position via GPS does not emit any signals that can be detected; it's a purely passive process. If malicious software installed on the phone records the GPS data and later transmits it, then yes. However, cellphones in particular do require the cellphone network to track at least which cell they're in in order to work, so in practice controlling a cellphone network gives you a pretty good idea of where all the subscribers are. This is a big problem, and we need to figure out how to stop it if we are to enjoy the sort of freedom from government surveillance that people everywhere enjoyed since the Paleolithic until about 01998. The 20th-century results of giving too much power to governments are not promising.

shadowgovt 5y ago

Yes, they can. "Reasonable" changes over time, with available technology, and with the tolerance of the public. People don't much care for "We could've stopped that murder / caught that murderer, but we didn't use the resources available." If there's a murder on a street corner, do we expect the cops to not pull camera records from every nearby store with an outward-facing camera?

irrational 5y ago
In my experience, cops won’t do any detective work anymore unless it directly affects them. Your house is broken into and the thieves dropped their wallet with their ID? The cops will not follow up on that and get your stuff back. Murder? Hardly.
- shadowgovt 5y ago
  Murder and theft are treated very differently (but yes, theft is under-prosecuted... The police are under-incentivized to pursue it because insurance usually makes the victim financially whole).

mandelbrotwurst 5y ago

Something doesn’t become a good thing just because it’s possible and/or been happening for a while.

shadowgovt 5y ago
In general, it becomes a good thing if it helps more than it harms.