But the bottom of the story tells it all:
Halpin questioned the reliability of the data and argued that his privacy was invaded, since officials tracked him when he wasn’t at work.In fact, the data found Halpin on numerous occasions turned up early for his job, sometimes at 6 a.m. His shift started at 8 a.m.
Despite the extra hours Halpin put in without pay, Richard ruled that it didn’t mitigate his early departures and recommended he be fired.
You cellphone is a little electronic dog tag; anyone can know where you are at any time, even if your phone isn’t “on” or your don’t have a current, paying subscription to service, they can still pinpoint its exact location. We’ve been reading about how using domestic spying tech isn’t just for Federal Big Boys anymore, and here’s more along the same lines, this time from an employer. I imagine there are corporate employment contracts which grant employers even more “rights” to control and manipulate employees when off the clock.
There is no privacy. For anyone.
Front page
And of course domestic surveillance is of Americans
Sean Paul has the goods on the technology:
Sure, this would work for Arabic speakers, if (a) we had the translators, which we don’t, and (b) assuming the Arabic speakers were really, really stupid, and didn’t use word code.
The only way any of this technology is going to work is if it’s working on English, and that means it’s domestic, against Americans.
I wonder who?
We. Are. Going. To. Die. We must restore hope in the world. We must bring forth a new way of living that can sustain the world. Or else it is not just us who will die but everyone. What have we got to lose? Go forth and Fight!—Xan
All phones have GPS
You can’t buy one without it. It is required for Enhanced 911 functionality so it is there for your own safety. Extracurricular avenues can and will be exploited too but we don’t need to worry about that now do we? We’re all the good guys.
P.S. Never assume that when you shut the phone off that the GPS is off. For that matter don’t assume that popping the battery will necessarily cut its tracking capabilities either…
wrong. wrong wrong
E911 can be implemented many ways, including enhanced towers to triangulate better. This is the most common way, because (1) it’s easier to do for all phones, (2) gps chipset is too expensive for all the freebie $30 phones (3) you can get a cell signal in a basement or office bldg, but good luck getting GPS signals when you are indoors with a crappy patch antenna.
When your phone is off there clearly is some power mgt going on, just plug in a charger to an “off” phone and you’ll see there is some ’brains’ going on. For 95% of phones you can safely assume (unless the spooks switch phones on you) that it is off.
If the battery is out, you can assume it is totally dead (unless the spooks switched phones on you) even residual capacitors or whatever could keep the phone alive wouldn’t have enough to “send” your gps or any signals for very long.
Most higher end newer phones probably do have some rudimentary gps. Also, most phone probably can be “enabled” into listen mode while sitting in your pocket if they wanted to.
intranets: please explain
the following experience i had.
i’m always breaking and losing phones, changing plans, etc. i’ve got four or five in drawers, they aren’t “in service” but for some reason i find it hard to throw away “300$” worth of technology. anyhoo- once while cleaning, i took one out and dialed the “instant 911” button accidentially. it worked. i apologized to the operator and hung up, but i was a little surprised.
the phone had been sitting in a drawer for goddess knows how long, uncharged.
i had switched carriers and not paid for service for it for a considerable amount of time, many months iirc.
what happened?