Comment long-term storage of phone location records? (Score 1) 295
The critical question is not why the cell phone records are released,
but what records exist and why they exist. News reports often state
that, at the very beginning of an investigation, law enforcement had
information such as "the last time this person's phone pinged a tower
was in Bridgehampton three days ago at noon." Wireless carriers can't
predict who might be investigated, so this may imply long-term storage
of every person's location. Questions include: A. Can I compel my
carrier to tell me what information it currently retains about my own
previous locations? B. How about other people's locations, with a
civil subpoena? C. Is my carrier using my historical location data for
its own internal purposes (marketing, etc.)?
