How The Federal Government Buys Our Cell Phone Location Data
Over the past few years, data brokers and federal military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies have formed a vast, secretive partnership to surveil the movements of millions of people. Many of the mobile apps on our cell phones track our movements with great precision and frequency. Data brokers harvest our location data from the app developers, and then sell it to these agencies. Once in government hands, the data is used by the military to spy on people overseas, by ICE to monitor people in and around the U.S., and by criminal investigators like the FBI and Secret Service. This post will draw on recent research and reporting to explain how this surveillance partnership works, why is it alarming, and what can we do about it.
Use Arrivecan To Enter Canada
You must use ArriveCAN to provide mandatory travel information before and after your entry into Canada. It only takes minutes to help keep each other safe.
Available for iOS, Android and web. The mobile app is free and is available in English, French and Spanish . Download the latest version of ArriveCAN or click ‘update’ in your app store.
Canadian Province To Track Citizens Via Cell Phones Deal With Those Who Break Quarantine
EDMONTON, Alberta, April 9, 2020 In the name of combating the coronavirus, government officials from one of Canadas largest provinces, Alberta, are planning to use peoples cell phones as a tool to track their whereabouts.
This past Tuesday, the premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney, stated that quarantine orders will be strongly enforced, including using technology like smartphone apps to track those under orders to stay home.
We want to know if that persons actually going to go home, and stay home and if not, we can deal with that individual before they spread the virus, said Kenney Wednesday in the Alberta Legislature.
This would apply to Albertans under quarantine orders and travelers who arrive in Alberta from nations with high infection rates.
On his Facebook page Tuesday, Kenney posted Albertas relaunch strategy, which is designed to help the province return back to normal once the lockdowns put in place because of the coronavirus have been lifted.
It has five main points: 1) a goal of testing 20,000 people a day for the coronavirus, 2) expanding the effort at tracking close contacts of those infected with the virus, 3) stronger provincial border screening, 4) enforcing strict quarantine measures using smartphone apps, and 5) encouraging the use of masks in public.
Jay Cameron, a lawyer for the Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms , told LifeSiteNews that observing people via a smartphone app constitutes a search of an individual.
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S To Getting A Free Government Phone
In order to get a free cell phone through the government program, you must first check to see if you qualify based on your income. Eligibility rules differ by state, but are similar. A good rule of thumb is that if you qualify for a state assistance program like SNAP, Supplemental Security Income , Free School Lunch program, Medicaid, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program , Tribal programs, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families , then you may already qualify to receive telephone assistance. In addition to those state-funded programs, you can qualify for the free phone program if your income is below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. This percentage is as high as 150 percent of the poverty level in some states.
Use Arrivecan To Submit:
The ‘saved traveller’ feature is optional for all travellers. It saves travel documents and proof of vaccination information in ArriveCAN for re-use on future trips. If you don’t use this feature, you’ll need to enter this information for each ArriveCAN submission. You can add, edit or delete travellers at any time.
Once you’ve saved your travel information, ensure that you continue your submission until you obtain an ArriveCAN receipt.
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How You Can Get An Obama Phone
If you qualify based on your income, you can get a free government phone for yourself. Along with a free cell phone, you will be able to receive 250 free minutes per month. Needy Americans can get approved through many different retailers in 49 states along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. To get an Obama Phone, you must simply qualify based on your income level per year.
Your Privacy Is Protected
- does not use GPS or other technology on your mobile phone to track your location
- uses only the information provided by you, the user
The personal information provided through ArriveCAN is protected according to the Privacy Act. For more information, see the ArriveCAN privacy notice.
ArriveCAN has a new feature called the “saved traveller” profile that’s optional and voluntary. For those using it to make future submissions quicker, a separate privacy notice with more information is available. ArriveCAN saved traveller privacy notice.
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What Is The Lifeline Assistance Program
Lifeline Assistance is the Federal Communication Commission’s long running program designed to provide equal access to phone service for all Americans. It specifically caters to low-income residents who may not otherwise be able to afford a cell phone device or plan. The program entitles those who are eligible to wireless service for $9.25/month. It also applies to internet service, also priced at $9.25/month.
You can read more about the Lifeline program here.
Locating An Android Device
You can enable the Find My Device feature with the Android Google Manager app. Heres how to do it:
If you want to try this method, keep in mind that:
- Your phone must be online and turned on
- The Find My Device feature should be active
- The location services must be enabled
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A New Guidance From The Us National Security Agency Walks People Through Ways To Secure Their Mobile Device From Location Trackers As Best As They Can Here Are A Few
Your phone, fitness tracker or any device that connects to the internet through a cell signal, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth can give yup you location even if that device is powered off. So says a new guidance from the National Security Agency.
While most of us make use of location services every day, we may not be aware of exactly how our devices can track our whereabouts. Sometimes we want that tracking, such as when we’re keeping tabs on children coming home from school, or allowing friends to know we’re safe while we’re out on a nightly run or on a hike, or trying to locate missing luggage. We also want 911 to know where we are when we call, and we certainly like being able to find a gas station or a shorter route home when mapping directions in our car.
But sometimes we don’t want anyone to know our whereabouts. And while we may think we’re hiding that information by turning off location tracking on our smartphone, for example, that step isn’t good enough, said the NSA.
We want apps to track us, such as when we’re ordering an Uber or Lyft
“Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that disabling location services on a mobile device does not turn off GPS, and does not significantly reduce the risk of location exposure,” the NSA said. “Disabling location services only limits access to GPS and location data by apps. It does not prevent the operating system from using location data or communicating that data to the network.”
Still tracked while cellular off
Can You Replace An Assurance Wireless Lost Or Stolen Phone
The standard procedure after losing your free government phone is asking for a replacement device. You can complete the process in two ways:
While the replacement phone is typically free, Assurance Wireless sometimes charges a replacement fee. The company policy is slightly vague on that matter, so you might want to pursue other options.
If youve purchased a device protection plan, you can file an insurance claim for your Assurance Wireless lost phone with:
- Your insurance company
- DoNotPays Insurance Claim product
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Toronto Canada Is Now Using Phone Location Data To Track If People Are Congregating
This past Monday, Toronto Mayor Tory announced at a virtual TechTO meetup that the government has been receiving location data from wireless carriers and telecommunication companies in the area to show where people are still congregating and flouting social distancing The Logic reports. Tory stated:
We had the cellphone companies give us all the data on the pinging off their network on the weekend so we could see, Where were people still congregating?
That an arm of the Canadian government has even considered using this pandemic as a way to broaden their surveillance apparatus is heinous to say the least. That there are wireless carriers that are willing to provide this heat map to the Canadian government in contravention of civil liberties laws is also heinous but another discussion for another time. Its worth noting that Toronto Mayor John Tory is a former CEO of Rogers, the second largest cellular network in Canada.
Michael Bryant, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Civil Liberties, rightfully lambasted Mayor Tory for even considering tracking citizens in this way. Bryant described the actions as:
asking companies potentially to breach their contracts and break the law. Thats not whats supposed to happen ever, and actually, especially during an emergency, unless there is explicit legal authority to do this.
Can The Government Really See Everything You Do Online
Believe it or not, there isnt a yes or no answer to this question. Some people in the United States might think the government is actively spying on everyone. Theres a conception that a team of FBI agents is assigned to you, specifically, and watching everything you do online.
In the US, though, this is almost assuredly not the case for the average person. However, even if the government isnt actively monitoring your internet habits, there is very little stopping it from getting that information.
By this, we mean that it is very easy for a government agency including the police to obtain a report of your internet usage. All the officials need to do is ask your internet service provider for the data. In the US, they dont even need a warrant to do this.
Related: Is selling your privacy for a cheaper phone really a good idea?
Your ISP is often bound by law to provide any and all information to the government when its requested. In the fine print of your service contract with your ISP, youll find wording that discloses this practice.
In essence, there isnt a team of FBI agents watching your every online interaction because its not necessary. Your ISP is already doing all the work. All it takes is an official request and boom: the government has all the information on you it needs.
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Best Free Mobile Tracker Online In The World
There are times in life when we all seek a solution to track our phone or someones who we care for. Dont we? If you have been watching movies where people easily locate others without any help and thinking if it is even possible, you got to try our Mobile number Tracker.The tool is awesome. If you are worried about your kid being late for home from school or want to find out if your spouse is actually busy in office at odd hours, you just have to locate their phone number. The tool will also assist in finding your own phone when you lose it somewhere.And, what if, someone you love is in danger and all you want to know is the location where he or she has been trapped? You have guessed it right. With our research and long years of hard work, we have come up with this most feasible method to track cell phones when and wherever needed.
Consider Facetime Or Google Hangout
Apple FaceTime and Google Hangout are better than using an unencrypted cell phone since they run through your IP service. They aren’t designed to keep your information private, but most internet companies, including Apple and Google, say that they only give away information on a targeted basis in response to government requests. Yesterday, however, we found out that the NSA can tap into about 75% of internet traffic. Less of the data is being stored for future mining, but until we learn more, be cautious with FaceTime and Hangout.
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Can My Phone Be Tracked With Location Services Switched Off
It’s easy to track a smartphone, but can it still be done without location services switched on?
The thought of someone tracking your every move is scary, whether it’s your employer, government, or even a stalker.
All smartphones on the market today come with built-in location services that could be used to reveal location data. But what if you don’t want to share your location data with anyone? If you disable location services on your phone, is it still possible for it to be tracked?
Read on to find out whether your phone can be tracked after you disable location services.
What’s Next For Privacy Rights In The Digital Tracking Age
Some commentators are confident that lower courts will rely on Carpenter to extend the probable cause warrant requirement to newer data searches that arguably infringe on greater privacy rights. Whereas historical and real-time CSLI searches are often particularized to an identified individual, reverse location searches may look at the whereabouts of hundreds or thousands of individualsmost of whom are not suspected of any wrongdoing. And some question the effectiveness of reverse location searches in generalarguing that such searches are highly prone to errors and shouldn’t be used at all.
This area of law is evolving. As courts and legislatures try to catch up to the technology, more cases and statutes will likely emerge. If you have questions regarding your privacy rights, contact a lawyer who specializes in civil rights or criminal defense.
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Can Your Phone Be Tracked If Location Services Are Off
Turning off location services on your phone is supposed to make it untraceable. But this is not always the case, as there are other ways that your device can still be tracked.
To be fair, turning off the built-in location service on your device does a good job of concealing your location. However, trackers can use other technologies and techniques to reveal your device location, whether or not location services are turned on.
How Is This Legal
Since the idea of tracking location data via smartphones is still so new, laws and regulations related to the practice are behind the curve. Since the data Anomaly Six collects is technically anonymous and since it isnt selling the data for commercial purposes i.e. advertising or marketing its fine to do this within the eyes of the law.
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The big question, though, is what the government is doing with this data. Is it just keeping tabs on its citizens? Does it use it for law enforcement purposes? Is it using it as a counter-terrorism tactic? There are a lot of questions here, but Anomaly Six has no intention of answering them. According to the company, the business it conducts is considered confidential , so it cant elaborate on its business partners without their strict permission. Obviously, that permission isnt likely to be easy to get.
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Find A Free Government Phone Provider
To get a free phone, you must check with one of the companies that offer phones through the Lifeline Assistance program. There are many providers out there, but the most popular ones are Safelink Wireless and Assurance Wireless.
Many programs exist all over the country that provide cell phones to needy people in most states. Providers include Budget Mobile, Life Wireless, Assist Wireless, I-Wireless, Terracom Wireless, YourTel Wireless, Tag Mobile, Cintex Wireless, Care Wireless, Alaska Communications, and Wireless for Hope. Because of the expansion of these programs nationwide, this list is subject to change.
How To Track A Cell Phone Location By Number
James Davis
Mar 07, 2022 ⢠Filed to: Frequently Used Phone Tips ⢠Proven solutions
If you need to know where is your partner, you can quickly locate him/her through a GPS facility on your cell phone. On the other hand, underestimating the worse of the things that can cause a mobile in the hand to get lost or stolen is a common mistake. These days the new technology is advancing more and more and it makes a parent’s role even more challenging especially with young kids. Therefore we could say that software for tracking cellular is something essential that is why in this article, we will help you to track a cell phone location by number.
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