ACLU seeks information on Michigan program that allows cops to download information from smart phones belonging to stopped motorists.
The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous.
"Law enforcement officers are known, on occasion, to encourage citizens to cooperate if they have nothing to hide," ACLU staff attorney Mark P. Fancher wrote. "No less should be expected of law enforcement, and the Michigan State Police should be willing to assuage concerns that these powerful extraction devices are being used illegally by honoring our requests for cooperation and disclosure."
A US Department of Justice test of the CelleBrite UFED used by Michigan police found the device could grab all of the photos and video off of an iPhone within one-and-a-half minutes. The device works with 3000 different phone models and can even defeat password protections.
"Complete extraction of existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags," a CelleBrite brochure explains regarding the device's capabilities. "The Physical Analyzer allows visualization of both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth. In addition, location information from GPS devices and image geotags can be mapped on Google Maps."
The ACLU is concerned that these powerful capabilities are being quietly used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.
"With certain exceptions that do not apply here, a search cannot occur without a warrant in which a judicial officer determines that there is probable cause to believe that the search will yield evidence of criminal activity," Fancher wrote. "A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched."
The national ACLU is currently suing the Department of Homeland Security for its policy of warrantless electronic searches of laptops and cell phones belonging to people entering the country who are not suspected of committing any crime.
I would like to know more about how these are actually used.
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ReplyDeleteThis started with the Bush's 'War on Terror' and has steadily grown since them.
Those who committed 9/11 have won beyond their wildest dreams. We've got a country full of pussies who are willing to give up to rights and tell the government "Do whatever you want to do, just protect me."
The fact that each of the 300 million people plus in this country each have a better chance of being hit by lightning that being hurt by a terrorist, well...
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So would the ACLU, rufus.
ReplyDeletePony up that half million, and the Government will allow you a copy of the protocols.
Does it seem a reasonable fee, to you?
While I understand that Freedom is not free, it would not be unreasonable to believe that the Government was using the exorbitant fees to stifle the spirit, if not the letter, of the Freedom of Information Act.
I'm having a hard time understanding what advantage they would derive by knowing who I called.
ReplyDeleteLet me rework that. Let's say I get pulled over for speeding. Why would they want to look at my phone calls, and why would I care?
On the other hand: If I had an active warrant out for, say, bank robbery, they might be able to track down my accomplices by accessing my cellphone.
I'm not sure this is All bad. As in any tool we give law enforcement we need to monitor their actions, but, hey, we let these guys run around with guns on their hips, and a license to use same.
Yeah, I don't understand that "fee" nonsense, at all. pure arrogance of power.
ReplyDeleteThe bastards require constant watching.
Deemocracie is hard.
You are pulled over, rufus, and the history of your calls to Bernie Madoff become accessible to the Government.
ReplyDeleteNot only the history, but the content, if you are a textmiester.
Now, you can insert any name that the Government is building a case against, in place of Bernie's, and the subsequent "random" traffic stops of his friends and business associates.
A good day when you get to call your mother to wish her a happy birthday and she tells you after she walks the dog on the beach she is thinking about going to the casino.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a Great day, Deuce.
ReplyDeleteJawohl mein kommandant .
ReplyDeleteIf they were doing that w/o a warrant then they should have their fingernails pulled out.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the police can't search your car unless you give your permission, or they call in for a warrant. I don't see how this would be any different.
It puts it in perspective Rufus!
ReplyDeleteIt sure does, Deuce. It sure does.
ReplyDeleteThe Stasi had 90,000 personnel. The TSA is up to 50,000. Add the FBI and CIA and the number get interesting. I added an interesting video to the end of the post. At 7:45 minutes they start discussing telephone monitoring and transcription.
ReplyDeleteAs a young airman, I would never have believed that Americans would ever come under such police and government surveillance.
My mother is 85 today.
ReplyDelete(Arizona Governor) Brewer ... vetoed the "birther bill" that would have required President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove they were American citizens who were born in the United States before their names could have been placed on the state ballot.
ReplyDeleteHouse Bill 2177, which shockingly breezed through both houses of the Legislature with strong Republican support, would have put the onus on the nation's political parties to prove their candidates were American citizens who were born in the United States.
The preferred method of proof: a long-form birth certificate with all the details of the person's birth. If that wasn't available, the parties could produce a hospital birth record, a baptismal document or circumcision certificate. The Arizona secretary of state would determine whether the documents were valid and whether the candidate should be on the ballot.
As a former secretary of state, Brewer had heard enough. She said in a written statement explaining the veto: "I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for President of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their 'early baptismal or circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona Secretary of State. This is a bridge too far."
Brewer dismissed the bill as a blatant attack on Obama's eligibility to be president, and an unproductive one at that when there are bigger concerns to address.
Mrs Brewer, a Republican to the core of her political being.
So, dougo, there you go. Even when the proposal passes the legislature, giving cover to the legislators, the Birther Proposal does not become law.
No need to prove Constitutional fitness, before being put on the ballot. Then no challenge is available, the normal voter denied "legal standing" to bring suit.
Besides, this Republican Governor tells US, there are more important issues, than Constitutional eligibility of the candidates for the Presidency.
Look to the results of the work product.
We talk politics all the time. She finds it hard to believe that people are such sheep and naively accept the bullshit handed to them by politicians.
ReplyDeleteAnd not a word written about the "natural born" issue.
ReplyDeleteThat is the salient point of Constitutional eligibility and fitness for the office, the requirement that Mr Obama would not clear, even allowing that he was born in a Hawaiian hospital that was ignored and unmentioned in the Legislation.
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ReplyDeleteObama will never produce what the rightwinguts are asking for (whatever that is).
Why would he? He is getting too much political advantage by letting them run around with their conspiracy theories.
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That's great, Deuce. My mother Never talked politics. She thought they all were a bunch of crooks.
ReplyDeleteShe ALWAYS sided with the down-and-out, and the underdog. When she was retired there was always some little ol' gal over at her house puttering around, "earning" a few bucks.
God, I miss her.
Hope your mother has a Wonderful day.
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ReplyDeleteCongrats to your mother Deuce.
Eighty-five is a milestone and an accomplishment. Even better she sounds like she is in great chape.
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Happy birthday to Deuce's mom!
ReplyDeleteI have been in Oklahoma all week. What a dreary place. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the police can't search your car unless you give your permission, or they call in for a warrant. I don't see how this would be any different.
ReplyDeleteI shall not give permission, and if they take my phone anyway, I will instruct my lawyer that I want that cop's badge as a trophy.
but, Sun Sue, you are Asian aren't you? You might even be *gasp* a Philippine and therefor possibly a Muslim and a risk-based, intelligence-driven process, would indicate you are worthy of attention by the law.
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ReplyDeleteThat's easy for you to say Ash.
Because you, Ash, are gasp Canadien and therefore an intelligence-driven process would likely not apply to you.
:)
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heh heh, well, actually, I'm an American living in Canada,
ReplyDeleteok, that's a lie too, I'm a tater - salt of the earth I am.
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ReplyDelete...well, actually, I'm an American living in Canada,...
How long have you lived in Canada, Ash?
For some reason I thought it was like forty years.
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yeah, something like that, yet I am still a Natural Born American. Once an American always an American which is really quite a nasty thing if you start considering the tax implications.
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ReplyDeleteYea, but it's kind of like me saying I am a Southerner or a hillbilly because I was born in Tennessee even though I've been living in Michigan since I was four.
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I dunno, I carry a US passport, have a US birth certificate, have US born parents, I can vote, and I have to file US tax returns. On top of that I have family in the US and, most importantly, US TV is ubiquitous here in Canada.
ReplyDeleteNope, sorry, I AM AMERICAN.
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ReplyDeleteNope, sorry, I AM AMERICAN.
Sorry, I'll need to see an official paper original birth certificate with all the required official stamps and signatures and identifiable and traceable water marks.
We can't be too careful in cases like this.
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unless i run for prez then all is good.
ReplyDeleteThanks all, I'll let er know. She will be pleased.
ReplyDelete"They were aware of the whole operation to the extent that sometimes when we discussed whether some supplies had arrived we would say, 'let's ask the English'".
ReplyDeleteThere were five flights in total from Tel Aviv to Buenos Aires via Lima, loaded with equipment such as gas masks, radar warning systems to prevent fire from enemy missiles, air to air missiles, duvet jackets and spare parts.
Additional fuel tanks for fighter bombers supplied by Israel were particularly important for Argentina's war effort as they enabled pilots to fly to the Falklands and return to the Argentine mainland without stopping.
Falklands War
The man said he heard five shots.
ReplyDelete"I thought it was a 9mm or a .38-calibre," he said
The witness said he looked out his window and saw Cooper running west from a driveway. He went underneath a clothesline, past a tree and stopped.
Shooting Described
But according to the resort spokeswoman Isabelle Hefti there is no reason for skiers not to book.
ReplyDelete...
"The tracks should have remained open until Easter Monday, but it was not possible any longer," said the tourism spokesman Leonie Neuffer.
"Because everything is very green now holidaymakers can walk instead."
Worst Snow Cover
Dancing Medvedev
ReplyDeleteRenho, the minister put in charge of power conservation, said Japan's already highly energy-efficient households, who typically only heat one room of their home in winter and even have lids to keep their bathwater warm for other members of the family, now need to scrimp further on power.
ReplyDelete"We want members of a family to watch television together, rather than separately in their own rooms," she told the Nikkei newspaper. She revealed that her family now only uses light in two of their rooms at night.
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Factories may have to look after themselves. Kawasaki Heavy Industries has already revealed it plans to sell a 7,800KW natural gas generator to any companies that need their facilities to remain constantly in operation over the coming months.
Turning Off The Lights
In March 1944 SOE ordered Pelham-Burn to return to England from Camp STS 103, Canada, where he had been instructing potential agents in sabotage. He reported to the Baker Street HQ and was asked whether he was prepared to lead a small demolition team which would be dropped into France with the objective of destroying a radar installation.
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Pelham-Burn did an extensive tour of American Army camps. As he wrote in his memoirs, there was some initial opposition to being lectured to by a “Goddam Limey son-of-a-bitch”, but he always had some tricks up his sleeve and after a few minutes usually had his audience riveted.
After his SOE operation in Brittany, he succeeded in getting himself posted back to the RAF and learned to fly Wellingtons. His final appointment was as SOE liaison officer at Shaef, Versailles.
Hamish Pelham-Burn
Wonder if papa Rufus was in that crowd.
ReplyDeleteWhich crowd would that be, Sam?
ReplyDeleteAs I posted on a previous thread, All of those Japanese Wind Turbines, including the Offshore ones that are fairly close to Earthquake Ground Zero, are just spinning happily as hell, and turning out a lot of electricity.
ReplyDeleteSummertime Air-conditioning? If they just had 15 or 20 Gigawatts of Solar they would be home free.
“Goddam Limey son-of-a-bitch”
ReplyDelete78% oppose cutting spending on Medicare.
ReplyDelete78% of the people realize they'll "get old" some day. :)
ReplyDeleteEverything I've read, Sam, leads me to think that the Limey fighting man is just a superb guy to have on your side.
ReplyDeleteIt's their idiot, inbred "Generals" that, largely, aren't worth killing.
I think the "people," by and large, Sam, figure both parties are idiots, and that the answer is in the middle. We DO have to cut spending, and we DO have to raise some taxes. It's just common sense.
ReplyDeleteHow To Get A Guy To Notice You
ReplyDeleteThe ACLU and the progressive Jews no doubt consider the police methods in Michigan to be perplexing. The stand by for the ACLU and the Jewish progressive's Center of Constitutional Rights will demand the cops be tried for illegal surveillance activities, much as they have sued to protect terrorists who are a direct threat to US citizens from being attacked by the US military without trial and due process of civilian law.
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Drudge and Trump are all over Obama and the birther thing. I think he likes this Birther thing continuing as long as possible because he wants to paint Republicans as kooks. The attempt to follow the Jewish progressive Alinsky playbook and demonize opponents by Tea Party sympathies failed. But he has a certain traction with the Birther nuts as symptomatic of the looney religious right Republican base.
That is one reason.
The other is that it diverts attention from what we have known about other candidates and Presidents. One that his enablers in the media and academia have abetted.......
We know the academic background of the Pawlenteys, Romneys, Kerrys, Bush I&II, Hillaries, Huckabees. Where people from Nixon onward stood in college and law school rankings that occupied the Presidency.
Not Obama.
What were his genius SAT and LSAT scores. What got him scholarships from private school in Hawaii through Oriental, Columbia, Harvard Law?
Obama isn't telling. His "Black Guard" in media and academia aren't looking hard or disclosing. Closing ranks tighter than the protective cocoon the media gave John Edwards.
No, it's fine to let the "born in Kenya, Barry Soetero, fake birth cert stuff go on until after the 2012 elections. As long as SAT scores, what his Columbia curriculum of study, and why he never published anything and got away with it because of his billionaire U of Chicago mentor Families said so ---is not explored.
Leave the narrative on the goobers with their secret birth in Kenya tales.
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On the previous post 2164th asked what should be the optimum popultion for the US.
US Census - US population 363 million by 2030. 420 million by 2050. 786 million by 2100. Explosive growth fueled by mass immigration.
Water resources out West approaching sustainable limits and huge swaths of arable land being lost to immigrant settlement.
Anyone who has REALLY visited the 3rd World and been unfortunated enough to see the worst places with the most people amd rampant environmental destruction and cities full of "surplus people" not needed by the economy - knows the utter folly of saying Malthus was wrong.
All the Green Revolution did, as it's great reserch teams said - was by us one, single respite from a Malthusian trap - so we should use that respite well.
We didn't.
This is the first one done with computer graphics. Lots can be done with computer graphics that would be far more expensive to do in drawn animation.
ReplyDeleteFor instance.......note the reflection in the stainless tanker as it speeds past the rock-face. The computer graphics look good!
New Looney Tunes
Wayne County prosecutors want a judge to make it more difficult — if not illegal — for a Quran-burning pastor to protest at a local mosque on Good Friday.
ReplyDelete...
The prosecutors' petition — "a complaint to institute proceedings to prevent crime" — is believed to be unusual.
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The legal maneuvering comes as efforts by religious leaders intensify to persuade Jones to change his mind.
Prosecutors Fearful
My grandmother turns 91 next month. Went back last year for a visit when she turned the big 9-O. She hasn't slowed down a bit.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to your mom, Deuce.