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Kes: This is another reason why I have removed Google apps and Gmail from my devices, but Google is really insidious, and really wants to keep signing me into all sorts of websites and services.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/08/26/google-gave-feds-data-on-phones-located-at-kenosha-riot-arsons/?sh=1ce39de31dea
Excerpt:
In the latest example of police applying for a so-called digital dragnet, just-unsealed court orders reveal that Google was ordered to hand over data from users of any of its location services who were near a Kenosha library and museum that were set on fire during the August 2020 unrest. Known as geofence or reverse location warrants, they asked Google to scoop up information on any device at the sites over a period of two hours at the public library and 25 minutes at the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum.
The potential for innocent Kenosha protesters to have been caught up in the government’s data grab is clear from the warrants. The boundaries encompassed public sidewalks, while the government also wanted data on any phone within the “margin of error,” which is not defined apart from to say it was the “maps display radius.” The Google Maps displays provided in the warrants include multiple public streets, various businesses, offices and a church.
A Google spokesperson said: “We vigorously protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement. We developed a process specifically for these requests that is designed to honor our legal obligations while narrowing the scope of data disclosed.”
Judges across the U.S. have pushed back against so-called digital dragnets that can hand personal information on potentially hundreds or thousands of people to investigators. In August last year, a judge in Illinois declared them unconstitutional, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). In June, Forbes revealed that a Kansas judge denied a government request to order Google to deploy one of its dragnets, in part because of how large the geofence was and the potential for gathering information on people who had nothing to do with the case. “The boundary encompasses two public streets, so anyone driving their automobile by the target location during the relevant time period could be identified in the data,” the judge wrote. “Google Maps also indicates that the subject building contains another business, which the application does not address.”
Previously, police have targeted the wrong man thanks to data from a Google geofence and one search warrant swept up data from more than 1,000 phones, causing concern amongst privacy activists.
Jennifer Lynch, surveillance litigation director at the EFF, previously told Forbes that their very nature means it’s unlikely they could ever “pass constitutional muster.” That hasn’t stopped police making the same demand of Google at crime scenes across the U.S., nor has it ceased trawling social media and ordering tech giants to hand over data on suspects from 2020’s civil unrest.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/08/26/google-gave-feds-data-on-phones-located-at-kenosha-riot-arsons/?sh=1ce39de31dea
Excerpt:
In the latest example of police applying for a so-called digital dragnet, just-unsealed court orders reveal that Google was ordered to hand over data from users of any of its location services who were near a Kenosha library and museum that were set on fire during the August 2020 unrest. Known as geofence or reverse location warrants, they asked Google to scoop up information on any device at the sites over a period of two hours at the public library and 25 minutes at the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum.
The potential for innocent Kenosha protesters to have been caught up in the government’s data grab is clear from the warrants. The boundaries encompassed public sidewalks, while the government also wanted data on any phone within the “margin of error,” which is not defined apart from to say it was the “maps display radius.” The Google Maps displays provided in the warrants include multiple public streets, various businesses, offices and a church.
A Google spokesperson said: “We vigorously protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement. We developed a process specifically for these requests that is designed to honor our legal obligations while narrowing the scope of data disclosed.”
Judges across the U.S. have pushed back against so-called digital dragnets that can hand personal information on potentially hundreds or thousands of people to investigators. In August last year, a judge in Illinois declared them unconstitutional, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). In June, Forbes revealed that a Kansas judge denied a government request to order Google to deploy one of its dragnets, in part because of how large the geofence was and the potential for gathering information on people who had nothing to do with the case. “The boundary encompasses two public streets, so anyone driving their automobile by the target location during the relevant time period could be identified in the data,” the judge wrote. “Google Maps also indicates that the subject building contains another business, which the application does not address.”
Previously, police have targeted the wrong man thanks to data from a Google geofence and one search warrant swept up data from more than 1,000 phones, causing concern amongst privacy activists.
Jennifer Lynch, surveillance litigation director at the EFF, previously told Forbes that their very nature means it’s unlikely they could ever “pass constitutional muster.” That hasn’t stopped police making the same demand of Google at crime scenes across the U.S., nor has it ceased trawling social media and ordering tech giants to hand over data on suspects from 2020’s civil unrest.
