"May"? This is exactly how the January 6th protestors were identified.
They will then go all shocked pikachu face then the government assault team in their door step taking them way... how can this bee they were the good ones.. they were on the "right side of history"...
Welcome to the system, everyone's a victim Doesn't matter if you're red or blue it hates you all
When both sides really agree on something, it's amazing how fast it gets done. Which, of course, is why there are people trying to hard to keep both sides from ever agreeing.
The data came from Google and included GPS data.
Either way, I don't think that matters. My point is that tech companies store data that can be used to identify everyone present at a specific location and timeframe, and that data is easily available to the government. There's no "may" about it.
On the other hand I understand what the post you're replying to is saying, even if it's not said extremely well. There is an enormous online narrative with a lot of money and power behind it trying to normalize the most violent and anti-democratic parts of the right wing of American politics and using that to drive views, clicks, and votes.
I'm normally not someone to clutch pearls and will be the first one to acknowledge that the vast majority of Americans are just decent enough people trying to figure out how to keep fed, healthy, and safe. But the tendency toward fascism in the human animal is something we need vigilance against, as demonstrated over and over again in human history.
The people who attempted to violently attack the seat of democratically elected power in this country were not protestors. There were protestors outside, but the people who crossed the line to breaking and entering, assault, and terrorism were not protestors.
Whether my choice of words implied the level of ideological purity that you wished to see has nothing to do with that.
it didn't start at gps data from google... it went from public posts on facebook to the email and phone number account associated with that to the google account associated with that to the gps data associated with the google account. if you show me them using a reach around route to get that gps data and persecute peaceful protestors that haven't been suspected of criminal activity then i do agree it's troubling. if you want me to agree that the government is not within their rights seek evidence via normal, judge approved, subpoenas to investigate/prosecute people storming the capital and doing legitimate crimes then i disagree. you need probable cause and that bar should be fairly high.
J6 was one of the first cases where mass surveillance paired with ad tracking and tower pings were used in combination for mass arrests.
We did not see this when the George Floyd riots occurred Despite the fact federal buildings were attacked yet it was brought out for this. It's very indicative of the existence of a police state that chooses its targets in a politically expedient way.
What we saw the government do and the fact the alleged conspirators have largely not been charged with anything but rather left to rot should terrify anyone. Just because you aren't the target today doesnt mean you won't be tomorrow.
> investigators obtained GPS and other cell phone records from Google via a search warrant
Search warrants are and remain the correct tool for the government to get this data. What this article is worrying about is the fact that sometimes the government simply purchases this data without any sign off from a judge. That's where constitutional protections are eroded.
Your outrage is misplaced until such time when the government can buy this data from Google without a search warrant.
But my point is that the article implies that there's some uncertainty as to whether this data can be used to identify everyone present at a place and time, and there isn't. It has been done before.
> Your outrage is misplaced until such time when the government can buy this data from Google without a search warrant.
Whatever outrage you read into my comments, I assure you it's not there. If you're looking for a fight, look elsewhere.
Also, the OP article is about the government doing exactly that. So if I was outraged, it would be well placed, according to you.
If a protest doesn't make the news what's the point?
The OP article doesn't match the document it describes, which says that the government authorized 5 searches of this data in the past 2.5 years.
The George Floyd protests were far more policed: twenty-five protestors died; around 14k were arrested. [1]
Hard to say any 1/6er suffered a similar fate, despite their significantly more egregious apparent crimes.
I'm still trying to see a reason why the common man hates that the citizens protest the government, or cares so much for the corrupt elite of either party. The government is not your friend. If the Floyd protests went to Washington it could have been less 1996 and more MLK.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests_in_Washi....
Somehow they managed to avoid breaking into the Capitol building and rifling through the offices of Congresscritters.
1/6 hurt Trump, and the Floyd riots hurt the BLM cause. If only either of them did something positive with the attention. One affected me and the people around me, the other could have happened on Mars to billionaire reptiles. I couldn't care less for those elites.
> DIA currently provides funding to another agency that purchases commercially available geolocation metadata aggregated from smartphones. The data DIA receives is global in scope and is not identified as “U.S. location data” or “foreign location data” by the vendor at the time it is provisioned to DIA. DIA processes the location data as it arrives to identify U.S. location data points that it segregates in a separate database. DIA personnel can only query the U.S. location database when authorized through a specific process requiring approval from the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Office of Oversight and Compliance (OOC), and DIA senior leadership. Permission to query the U.S. device location data has been granted five times in the past two-and-a-half years for authorized purposes.
It's worth noting that they do collect the data up front, and only querying it is restricted. But I suppose having to follow due process for that part is better than nothing.
And if this data includes sufficient identifying info, they should be able to identify me as a US citizen. Even phone number would be enough, since I think that and my US social security number are together in various public data breach datasets.
(Yes, my US phone number should be generating foreign location data. I have two eSIMs simultaneously active, one US and one foreign. For odd reasons I don’t think I have proper roaming working for the US number where I am now, but it does work via Wi-Fi calling which does share the country info with the carrier - and I have had international roaming working at other times.)
Why should my SSN indicate citizenship, some might wonder? SSA certainly knows I was granted my SSN years ago as a newborn citizen, and the Department of State knows I hold a current US passport and have never relinquished my US citizenship.
There were tens of thousands of arrest during BLM. The national guard were sent in. Undercover agents of the government were throwing people into unmarked vehicles. The people at J6 walked home with love and well wishes from the standing president of The United States government. However, they were dumb enough to bring tracking devices and fully document themselves committing treason. That doesn't point to some deep state agenda, it's just plain idiocy.