Privacy advocates gained access to a powerful tool bought by U.S. law enforcement agencies that can track smartphone locations around the world. Abortion clinics, places of worship, and individual people can all be monitored without a warrant.

Privacy advocates got access to Locate X, a phone tracking tool which multiple U.S. agencies have bought access to, and showed me and other journalists exactly what it was capable of. Tracking a phone from one state to another to an abortion clinic. Multiple places of worship. A school. Following a likely juror to a residence. And all of this tracking is possible without a warrant, and instead just a few clicks of a mouse.

  • @reddig33English
    97•1 month ago

    Start tracking politician phones. Oh look who paid a visit to the lobbyist house this week! That shit will get shut down real quick.

    • @[email protected]English
      10•1 month ago

      If you don’t want to be tracked illegally, don’t bring your phone.

      If you don’t want any to be tracked legally, write/call/tweet/visit your representatives.

      edit: responded to the wrong comment

      • @trololololEnglish
        5•1 month ago

        Ah yes, democracy is a healthy and fully functioning institution.

        You just got confused who’s sponsoring it, that’s understandable.

        • @[email protected]English
          1•29 days ago

          I see your point. I have no illusions that democracy is healthy in modern times. Perhaps not ever? We don’t even live in a democracy any more, we live in a corporatocracy.

          But doing nothing will solve nothing.

          edited to add: In fact, it’s our complacency that our corporate masters depend on. Corporate news is designed to overwhelm you. Advertising is designed to lull you to sleep. Together, they make it seem like there’s nothing you can do. But that’s not true. You can do something. Maybe not the things I suggested, but something. It will make a difference, even if it only makes a small difference for a few people. Isn’t that better than nothing?

        • @RaoulDookEnglish
          1•30 days ago

          What else would you suggest to do about it?

          • @trololololEnglish
            0•30 days ago

            Throw it down and bring real democracy like in Switzerland

            Or throw it down and bring anarchism

            None of these are realistic, so…

      • @[email protected]English
        2•29 days ago

        If you don’t want any to be tracked legally, write/call/tweet/visit your representatives.

        And donate to the EFF if you have the means because they can and have and will likely continue to lobby on average internet users behalf!

      • @pingvenoEnglish
        7•30 days ago

        All politicians meet with lobbyists. It’s hard to get a handle on the needs of the nation (or state, or so on), and lobbying is how people inform their representatives of that need. Now whether those lobbyists are scumbags or saints, that’s a different question.