Sprint Hands out customer GPS data like candy

By -
This from engadget, and very not cool. There is of course no mention of how many times the other carriers handed out data, so there is no comparison, but I have to say I am pretty bothered by this.

Sprint handed customer GPS data to law enforcement over 8 million times last year

By Joseph L. Flatley posted Dec 2nd 2009 3:51PM
Privacy advocates and career criminals alike are in a lather over reports that between September 2008 and October 2009, Sprint Nextel ponied up customer location data to various law enforcement agencies more than 8 million times. Speaking at ISS World 2009 (a conference for law enforcement and telecom industry-types responsible for "lawful interception, electronic investigations and network Intelligence gathering"), Sprint Nextel's very own Paul Taylor, Manager of Electronic Surveillance, lamented on the sheer volume of requests the company's received in the past year for precise GPS data for Sprint customers. How did the company meet such high demand? Apparently, his team built a special "web interface" which "has just really caught on fire with law enforcement." We're glad that Sprint's plans to streamline the customer service experience don't stop short of those who serve and protect, but as the EFF points out, plenty of nagging questions remain, including: How many individual customers have been affected? Is Sprint demanding search warrants? How secure is this web interface? Check out an excerpt from Taylor's speech after the break.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Ways to Not Suck at Driving

By -
Image
There are a lot of shitty drivers out there. Actually, most people are shitty drivers. They don't really know anything about cars, about driving, about limits of adhesion, how to react when things go badly, or what snow does to your ability to drive. In fact, most people think that driving slowly, regardless of what lane you are in, whether you are merging onto a highway or holding up 50 cars behind you, means "being a good driver." Just because you have spent many years driving in the left lane at 65mph does not make you a good driver, in fact, just the opposite. A good driver means you know how to drive, not that you have gotten lucky or simply average for the past 10 years. Personally, I would love to see a class in high school devoted to driving. I think it could be fun and informative while greatly reducing the number of accidents (especially fatal ones) on the roads every year. Right now, the driving exam is basically a joke, it means that you know what the pedals
Read more

This is just disgusting....

By -
Image
British teen Stacey Irvine hospitalized after eating nothing but chicken nuggets for 15 years By Ryan Jaslow Topics News  , Kids and family  , Food and Drink  , Strange 24 Comments Have Your Say Email Story Send to a Friend Share This Tell Your Friends Tweet This Tweet This More Share It (Credit: istockphoto) (CBS) Talk about being a picky eater. A British teenager reportedly has eaten "practically nothing" but chicken nuggets for the past 15 years. And now she's paying for it. PICTURES: Yum - or yuck? 20 freakish fried foods Seventeen-year-old Stacey Irvine didn't think her nugget habit was a big deal - until she collapsed one day work, The Sun  reported. When Stacey arrived at the hospital, doctors were horrified to find she had eaten chicken nuggets every single day and "never" ate fruits or vegetables. "My main meal is always chicken nuggets every day," Stacey told the paper. "I
Read more