Montel Hill

English 110

2/8/13

Professor Dison

They Know What You’re Doing!

Here in the United States some of us refer to the government as big brother. Some say no matter what big brother is always watching. In some cases it might seem hard to believe, but who really knows besides big brother? One thing is for sure though, and that’s if you carry around a cell phone they know where you are and they know what you are talking about. Some may say this is an invasion of privacy and some may say that it’s necessary to crack down on crime. With technology getting better and better not only can they track where you are, but listen in on your conversations. Although tracking citizens through their cell phones and listening in on conversations may seem like an invasion to their right of privacy, safety is more important than privacy and these things are crucial steps to keeping the United States as safe as possible.

Some may wonder how is it that the government can figure out where people are through their cell phones. The quick answer to that would be cell phone towers. According to Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey, there are almost 300,000 cell towers and 600,000 micro sites. (Bailey 1) Your phone hits one of these cell towers approximately every seven seconds when it is on. Bailey also states that these hits off of the towers can register your location within 150 feet and “ By 2018 new Federal Communications Commission regulations will require that cell phone location information be even more precise: within 50 feet.” (2)

That tool and law enforcement goes hand in hand because so many people; including criminals, carry cell phones and that can give them information they need to solve cases. Good example of this tool being utilized is detectives trying to solve a murder case. They might have probable cause to bring in a suspect they can assume has ties to the crime. With no physical evidence and the suspect claiming they weren’t in the area at the time, the detectives have nothing. They get a hold of the suspect’s cell phone records and realize that he was making calls to his girlfriend around the time of the murder. They also see that his cell phone was hitting off of a tower in the general area of the crime. They decide to bring the girlfriend in and she confesses that her boyfriend called her and said he committed the murder. With the new found pile of evidence the suspect realizes he is caught and confesses. He is taken off the street and put in jail. I personally don’t have any problem with the tracking of my phone off of cell towers if that means it gives the authorities the ability to take violent criminals off the streets. What I will say is that the way they get the information is interesting to look into.

Data from Bailey’s report shows that in 2011 there were 1.5 million requests from the authorities to obtain cell phone users activity from their carriers and under current law they will never find out that they were targeted. Now some might say that they at least have the right to know when authorities are getting this type of information. But I have a question for those who think that way. Don’t you think that would put people of their interest on alert to stop using their phones? This would cause the authorities job to be more difficult to get information on potential threats to our society’s safety. The reward doesn’t out weight the risk for me in this case so I really don’t have a problem with it, but I do find it interesting that people could never find out except in the case they get busted for something they knew they discussed on their cell phone.

In his article, “Triggering a Closer Review: Direct Acquisition of Cell Site Location Tracking Information and the Argument for Consistency Across Statutory Regimes” William Curtiss states “The ability of government agents to track the location of individuals is governed by a combination of constitutional and statutory rules. The Fourth Amendment states that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause. . . .” (4) So not is it only justified through probable cause but law enforcement doesn’t even have to go through cell phone carriers to obtain that information. “In fact, police no longer even have to go to the trouble of seeking information from your cell carrier. Law enforcement is more and more deploying International Mobile Subscriber Identity locators that masquerade as cell towers and enable government agents to suck down data from thousands of subscribers as they hunt for an individual's cell signal. This "Stingray" technology can detect and precisely triangulate cell phone signals with an accuracy of up to 6 feet -- even inside your house or office where warrants have been traditionally required for a legal police search.” (Bailey 4) Jay Stanley and Barry Steinhardt state in their excerpt from “Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society” that, “Privacy and liberty in the United States are at risk.” (1) Which brings me to the question, does it really matter how they get it if it’s for good intentions? Is it really that big of a deal that they know where Americans are when they have their phone with them? It’s either safety over privacy or privacy over safety.

Americans can’t have both and with how much technology has advanced over these past decades and authorities realizing that through technology threats of danger can be sought out and eliminated before hand through something as small as tracking phones and listening to calls.

They’ve made up their mind that the safety of our country is more important than privacy. As long as it’s in the best interest of the safety of my community I have no issue with the idea of cell phones being tracked by the United States government and their peace officers.

Works Cited

Bailey, Ronald. "Your Cellphone Is Spying On You." Reason 44.8 (2013): 34-39. Academic Search Elite. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
Curtiss, William. "Triggering A Closer Review: Direct Acquisition Of Cell Site Location Tracking Information And The Argument For Consistency Across Statutory Regimes." Columbia Journal Of Law & Social Problems 45.5 (2011): 139-175. Academic Search Elite. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.
Stanley, Jay, and Barry Steinhardt. “Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society.” ACLU.Org. Web. January 2003