Cellphone tracking?

[Ed W]

Yesterday, a young woman was abducted from the PetSmart here in Owasso.  Within an hour, she was found in her crashed car somewhere along SH20 near Avant and she was transported to the hospital.  The alleged abductor is still at large.

She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed heard this over the scanner.  She said the OPD dispatcher said they were tracking the car through the cellular phone.  My question is this - how does the PD track a cell phone so quickly?  I thought it required a warrant first.

[DolfanBob]

I know they require a warrant to listen or record conversations. I'm not real sure about the tracking of the cell tower pings.

[nathanm]

I thought it required a warrant first.

Nope. It's a freakin' profit center now.

[dbacks fan]

Nope. It's a freakin' profit center now.

Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn,,,,,,,old news been that way since the early  '00s. By the way nate, your tinfoil hat increases the range at which they can find you.

[Conan71]

Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn,,,,,,,old news been that way since the early  '00s. By the way nate, your tinfoil hat increases the range at which they can find you.

I think I just pissed myself...

[nathanm]

Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn,,,,,,,old news been that way since the early  '00s. By the way nate, your tinfoil hat increases the range at which they can find you.

No tinfoil, just reality. You should look at the statistics. In the early 00s, few phones had AGPS, so could not be located precisely. In the early 00s, location dumps were very rare. These days, not so much.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I think I just pissed myself...

You are that easily amused??

Just wondering....

[Conan71]

You are that easily amused??

Just wondering....

No, I just love it when Clavin gets owned.  If tracking can help save lives I put that as a higher priority over paranoid dope smokers worried about being chased down for having a joint on them.

[Hoss]

No, I just love it when Clavin gets owned.  If tracking can help save lives I put that as a higher priority over paranoid dope smokers worried about being for having a joint on them.

Maybe we could put trackers on those people buying psuedoephidrine.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Maybe we could put trackers on those people buying psuedoephidrine.

Owasso stores will just call the cops on you if you try to buy pseudofed in town.  And detainment/questioning for 4 hours.

[Conan71]

Maybe we could put trackers on those people buying psuedoephidrine.

Oh snap!

[nathanm]

owned

That word. It does not mean what you think it means.

[Conan71]

That word. It does not mean what you think it means.

You are a funny little man.  The consummate know-it-all.

SWMBO must be out of town again.

[nathanm]

You are a funny little man.  The consummate know-it-all.

I've never claimed to know it all. I only claim to have references.

[patric]

I know they require a warrant to listen or record conversations. I'm not real sure about the tracking of the cell tower pings.

Pinging is simply a matter of going to a carrier's website, logging in with a LE password, and entering a phone number or ESN.
It's listening to conversations or reading texts or mail that requires a warrant.

So now wireless carriers are only too happy to hand out our location data without requiring a warrant; selling cell phone surveillance records is a big money-making business for mobile phone companies that have special divisions and manuals to assist law enforcement in nabbing our info. The wireless industry is not transparency-friendly and mobile carrier companies do not want to report the number of times location info is disclosed, contested, or the number of users whose location data was handed over to Johnny Law. In fact, according to the Wireless Association (CTIA), a wireless trade association that includes AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, the proposed reporting requirements "unduly burden wireless providers and their employees, who are working day and night to assist law enforcement to ensure the public's safety and to save lives." The EFF bluntly pointed out that the wireless industry is "working day and night" to sell you out in secret.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/20137/doj_requiring_warrant_for_cell_phone_tracking_would_cripple_law_enforcement

Only a small number of people need to worry about law enforcement accessing their account data, he said, but "100% of cell phone and Internet users need to worry about how providers are using their information."
Reserve Officers Association:

Our favorite carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, are in on the action by selling information to police about a person's whereabouts, including the sale of private text messages and cell tower data, which pinpoint the location where someone is using a cell, the New York Times reported in March. Some companies are marketing surveillance fees to law enforcement to spy on targets even though wireless carriers declare that they don't sell their customers' information to police.