Government investigators in the United States have used push notification data to pursue people of interest, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a letter Wednesday to the Justice Department, revealing for the first time a way in which Americans can be tracked through a basic service provided by their smartphones.
Wyden’s letter said the Justice Department had prohibited Apple and Google from discussing the technique and asked it to change the rule, noting that his office had received a tip that foreign governments had also begun requesting the push-notification data.
↫ Drew Harwell for The Washington Post
Not surprising, of course. The one nugget of good news here is that while Apple’s policy is to hand over this data after a mere subpoena (“privacy is a fundamental human right“, everybody), Google requires an actual court order, meaning federal officials must convince a judge of the validity of the request. Assuming this is not a nebulous secret backroom deal but a proper judicial process, I’m actually okay with that – law enforcement does need the ability to investigate potential criminals, and as long as this happens within the boundaries of the law and properly overseen and approved by the judiciary every step along the way, I can support it.
> as long as this happens ^ within the boundaries of the law
I would add: “and is seen to happen”. People can’t make democratic judgements about what they’re willing to put up with, and whether it’s being done properly, unless there’s transparency, which is a point the article makes.
I’d also make a distinction between individual targeted requests and mass surveillance. For me the latter is qualitatively different even if it’s been sanctioned by a judge, because it inevitably impacts citizens not even suspected of crimes.
flypig,
+1 for transparency! Democratic governments are supposed to work for the people. Those that keep secrets from the people are democratically immoral.
Alfman,
Looking back the world events from the last few years, I feel pessimistic about the balance between “is the citizen for the service of the state” vs “is the state for the service of the citizen”. Or, in other words the age old question: “the needs of the few vs. the needs of the many”.
We are asked to give up our basic rights, here privacy, in return for some short term security, I remember some “old guy” talking about this, but that can’t possibly be related to United States right?
sukru,
In practice, what happens is that we end up giving up actual privacy for the illusion of security.
Unfortunately, in the real world there are also unjust laws. Getting a court order to comply with such laws, is not going to stop injustice. Another feather in the cap for dictatorships.
“ For U.S. requests of push notifications and other non-content information, Google said it requires a court order, not just a subpoena, that is subject to judicial oversight.”
Sounds like this only covers requests between “Americans” but if it’s a convo between non Americans or a non American and an American but they request the non Americans side of the convo, all bets are off.
Also doesn’t say what they do when other governments “Ask”
Indeed, it’s already been proven that both Apple and Google bend over backwards for the Chinese government at the drop of a hat.