ACLU: Michigan cops stealing drivers' phone data

[bananas]

Source: CNET

The Michigan State Police have started using handheld machines called "extraction devices" to download personal information from motorists they pull over, even if they're not suspected of any crime. Naturally, the ACLU has a problem with this.

The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.

The problem as the ACLU sees it, is that accessing a citizen's private phone information when there's no probable cause creates a violation of the Constitution's 4th Amendment, which protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures.

To that end, it's petitioning the MSP to turn over information about its use of the devices under the Freedom of Information Act. The MSP said it's happy to comply, that is, if the ACLU provides them with a processing fee in excess of $500,000. That's more than $100,000 for each of the five devices the MSP says it has in use.

<snip>

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20055431-1.html

---

Next they'll have digital "throw-down" devices to plant evidence on a phone.

[Mojorabbit]

1. There will soon be absolutely no privacy if this keeps up. nt

[hamerfan]

13. I think we're already there.

There is no more privacy these days. Welcome to the future. It sucks.

[Kurmudgeon]

33. I may be a Luddite, but things like this is why I don't and won't own a cell phone. n/t

[Occulus]

55. Ship has sailed- go Google "pen register requests".

Law enforcement needs a warrant to obtain specific information like what the MSP is getting using these devices (and, as such, these devices will very likely be ruled an Unconstitutional violation). However, pen register requests have already been held to not require a warrant, because the requested information "only" includes GPS data, headers, and other "non-identifying" information.

Law enforcement departments nationwide have issued so many of these requests, however, that large companies such as AT&T and Sprint have set up law enforcement pen register request web portals (!!) just because they receive so many each year. In 2007 (IIRC), between seven and eight million such requests were received by one major carrier alone. These requests have become so numerous that specific numbers are hard to get out of the telcos because the companies are afraid their corporate image would be harmed if they divulged the information.

My source for these claims is Leo LaPorte's "This Week in Tech" and "Security Now" netcasts. LaPorte is a trusted name in the tech reporting industry; his Apple podcasts (for example) have more listeners than MacWorld has readers. His TWiT network hosts some of the most-listened-to netcasts in the world, and I trust what he has to say about this issue.

Scary, scary stuff, and the primary reason I do not have a smartphone as yet.

[Mosby]

80. The blackberry can be password protected

I don't know much about other smart phones but I imagine they can be password protected also. The blackberry is used by a lot of companies because it's so secure, you put in the wrong password three times and the unit is wiped.

[valerief]

90. Or no phones. nt

[midnight]

2. If the police are a publicly owned and operated organization doesn't that info. belong to the public

[sofa king]

102. Interesting. A FOIA request might be in order.

http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-17337_18160-51242--,00.html

If the state claims an exemption against distributing that information, then it seems to me the state was clearly violating the 4th Amendment by gathering that information without consent or court order in the first place...

...so says this non-lawyer.

If it doesn't, telemarketers and other scammers are already on it.

[Dawson Leery]

3. This is why I have never advocated giving law "enforcement"

any more powers. They have too much power as is.
The more power they are given, the more power they will ask for in the future.
It is time to cut their funding down to appropriate measures. They clearly have to much money in their accounts
if they are buying these machines.

[silverweb]

4. Unreal.

Say hello to another piece of the reTHUG version of "smaller government" and "more personal freedom."

[suffragette]

5. First TSA, now state police

Once TSA set the precedent, it hasn't taken long for a state to follow suit.
And it sucks.

[truedelphi]

9. Totally agree. n/t

[franzia99]

10. I'm waiting for the pro-TSA trolls to swarm into this thread and start defending the MI police

"If you don't want your phone messages downloaded by cops then you don't have to drive."

[annabanana]

31. the who what now?

they must be a very very tiny part of this community.. I've never seen hide nor hair of them

[Boudica the Lyoness]

48. I have!

There are some very vocal DU members who are very pro TSA because watching people, including little children, get violated, makes them feel safer. They believe you don't have the right to travel unmolested, and that getting your genitals and breasts groped by a stranger in public, is no big deal.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

57. Yes, Dude, you have, Dude seen them, Dude. Getting the hint, Dude???

[Thunderstruck]

77. Hell yea, dude. When your smug detector goes off, dude, you know it dude.

[suffragette]

106. Welcome to DU

:hi:

And, yeah, I know what you mean.

[Newsjock]

6. Meanwhile, the feds are occupying themselves

... by protecting people who are too damn stupid to realize that all those News 5 Acai Berry Extra websites are fake. Oh, and they're still raiding medical marijuana, too. So glad they're on our side.

[groundloop]

21. Ummmm .... the "Feds" have nothing to do with Michigan State Patrol

You'll need to focus your indignation at Michigan's government and their new right wing governor.

[marasinghe]

108. don't disparage them. they got the baseball guys destroying our way of life - with steroid use.

barry bonds & roger clemens are going down, for betraying America's trust; thanks to the super Feds.

[glinda]

7. They are doing this randomly? And couldn't they download or wipe the information they get before

they show it to the ACLU? Just take their money and run? What the hell ids going on? And further more, why is the President and Dems sitting on their asses during all of this.

[rpannier]

11. They're not sitting on their asses

They're busily crafting a moderately strongly worded letter of concern.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. rofl

[Pandamonium]

76. Next, we'll have to use the "panic button" to dump our phone data

before ever talking to the police for any reason.

Ironically, the State Dept. is helping to develop this technology for activists from other countries like Iran and China, yet it appears that it is activists in this country that will end up needing it the most.

Freeeeeeedooooooooommmmmmmmmmm...........

[PurgedVoter]

82. +1 nt

[groundloop]

23. the President isn't responsible for how Michigan runs it's state police...

I would hope the Michigan Democratic Party is raising a bit of hell about this, but don't see where the national Democratic Party should spend resources on issues in a single state.

[eilen]

32. However the President has sworn to defend and protect the

Constitution. This is a violation of constitutional rights. States are not fiefdoms in which they can trample over American citizen's rights.

[groundloop]

41. I'm sure that in addition to healthcare, budget, wars, foreign policy, medicare, social security....

and everything else that the President has to deal with he has time to worry about what the police in all 50 states are doing.


:sarcasm:

[Hassin Bin Sober]

61. I'm sure they have a lawyer hanging around the justice department that can handle this.

[OnyxCollie]

110. Get Yoo on the phone. nt

[No Elephants]

79. He finished w. health care months ago. He should leave medicare and social security alone

and have the Pentagon bring home our troops.

That will leave mostly only the budget, which he seems to be combining with campaigning.


Besides, how long does it take to tell one of his aides to call Holder and get the D of J on it?

[stockholmer]

112. Little Rock, 1957, Eisenhower

No Faubus in Michigan,yet.

hopefully this gets quashed by the courts, quickly

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[Sherman A1]

12. Another reason to avoid MI in this year's vacation planning

I really enjoyed going there last year for our annual road trip, but I just cannot support the things I see happening in this state with my vacation dollars.

[MickeyFinne]

14. Funny and Sad

It is extremely funny and extremely sad all at the same time. Sad that most people don't give a crap about this. "Well, if you haven't done anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about". Funny that people don't wake up and understand that, though a corporate oligarchy most definitely exists, the consumer still (they can't make us buy things...YET) has much of the power. If all of us de-wired and refused to use devices that make our personal freedom and privacy open for business, then, yes, you betcha, Congress would find a way to support big biznuss and legislate the way of the dinosaur this kind of anti-rights behavior by the police.

[obxhead]

52. In the case of insurance we will be forced to buy from them

in 2014.

Step one in the war to force purchasing of known faulty products has already been won by the corporations.

Welcome to DU.

[Hubert Flottz]

15. Hell, Michigan even stole our football and basketball coaches!

That place has been going downhill ever since.

The KGB seems to be alive and well in 21st century America.

[Mnemosyne]

16. TIA lives... n/t

[joshcryer]

17. Completely unconstitutional, you have a "reasonable expectation" of privacy...

...with regards to the texts on your phone.

[Frank Cannon]

20. Without question, this is unconstitutional.

A cop can skirt getting a warrant to search your vehicle if he/she suspects that you have drug paraphernalia, an open container, etc., in it. But no way can they expect to find that stuff on your cell phone. There's absolutely no way this can be justified.

[Occulus]

56. Read my post above.

They can still get GPS data, headers, and possibly texting identities without a warrant. Like I said above, if you think this is bad, go dig around for a while about pen register requests.

This shit will scare you white.

[Buenaventura]

18. every law enforcement agency insists that

they need this kind of technology - what bullshit!

[mainer]

19. W. T. F. !!

This is unbelievable.

[groundloop]

22. I don't understand a couple of things about this....

I read the linked article and there wasn't a lot of information. First off, I'm wondering what the Michigan State Patrol is supposedly going to do with my list of phone numbers and a dozen or so photos of my son catching fish.

Also, the device mentioned has to be plugged into a phone to grab the data, so it sounds like the state troopers are stopping people and saying "sir, I need to see your drivers license, registration, proof of insurance, and cell phone". That's strange, and definitely illegal search and seizure.

[snooper2]

53. I don't get it either...

So they find a text of me saying, yeah- 20 see you later...


What you going to do copper? I don't get it- they looking for child porn or something?

Seems like a huge waste of time and money. I'm sure whoever makes the device has a great marketing campaign to pitch to police departments.

[radhika]

24. When did this device start being used?

When was budget allocated for it? Seems very compatible with Snyder's thuggery and bullying. Especially the shakedown of ACLU for $500K.

[Lint Head]

25. Then the people need to get the same device and steal the police info.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Kind of difficult to do,

given the asymmetrical power relationship between you and the cop.

[Eric J in MN]

44. If you tell a cop to hand you his phone...

...at very least, he'd say No.

He could do worse than that.

[MilesColtrane]

27. Yikes

http://www.cellebrite.com/forensic-products/ufed-physical-pro.html

"Let me zee your papers" has been updated to "Let me zee your cellphone".

[krispos42]

29. Here's a list of phones that it can read

Mine's on it - :grr: - but it can only be accessed by a cable hook-up.


iPhone users, beware the Bluetooth!

http://www.cellebrite.com/forensic-products/ufed-ruggedized/ufed-supported-phones.html

[grahamhgreen]

63. How do we prevent it?

[pscot]

68. Drop your cell phone

in a bucket of water.

[Xithras]

74. Break the data pins on your phone plug.

If you have a newer smartphone with a USB port, you just need to break either of the center two metal pins off in the plug. It will still charge, but you won't be able to transfer data via USB.

There are obviously downsides to doing this, but it's the only foolproof way to block one of these machines.

[Canuckistanian]

84. They'll just use a Bluetooth link, then

Most cell phones use both for interfacing.

[freshwest]

94. Once you're in the situation, you can't do a thing. Any attempt to sabotage the phone will be viewed

As an attempt to use a weapon and you'll get shot by the cops.

No, I am not kidding. Prepare to hear one of these commands:

'Freeze!' -- 'Don't move!' -- 'Hands where we can see 'em!'

'Reach for the sky!' no longer applies.

They won't accept anything less than sitting frozen stiff and STHU.

[sofa king]

103. Some Android phones will probably have a dump-data app soon.

One nice thing about the open source platform is that there's probably a hundred people trying to author such a program as soon as they heard the news.

But you fruit-bearing phone users are S.O.L.

[grahamhgreen]

109. Maybe a jailbreak app? What about encryption?

[sofa king]

111. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see a jailbreak.

Of course, the real thing to do is to treat your phone as an enemy that can never be trusted. Never take pictures of things you don't want the 5-0 to see, don't text the details of drug deals (though insider trading is still certainly fine), turn off the GPS (even though it can be turned back on at any time without your consent), and if you must live on the shady side, use a "burner," a cash-bought disposable cellular phone that cannot easily be traced back to you, which you will tell the police you found on the side of the road and was hoping to return to the real, imaginary, owner.

[freshwest]

69. I suspect all new systems/phones/upgrades are not for performance, but surveillance.

Same thing with computers. Every 'freebie' entails getting into your hard drive. The onboard cam, same thing, marketed as 'everyone wants one because it's so cool.'

If you're online and your input mikes are on, you're available for hearing and viewing. If you're wireless, you're broadcasting to the world night and day, even if the computer is off. Notice how the modem lights stay on when you shut all the power off? Still wired in.

No, you're not paranoid. They *are* watching and listening to all you do, write and say, everywhere. *They* are the real paranoids.

:rofl:

[sofa king]

104. Too true.

Want to be really scared? Start fiddling with the settings in Adobe Flash and you'll find the default setting automatically accesses the mic and the camera. Try to change it and... wait a minute, how come those buttons don't work?

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager06.html

[Blasphemer]

81. Mine is on it too and it's not a smartphone nor particulary new

Time for a downgrade. I don't really need any bells and whistles so I'd rather use an outdated phone. I'm as worried about corporate tracking as government surveillance.

[freshwest]

95. I don't see much difference in the two as government pays the corporations to do it for them.

And overnment passes laws to make what the corporations do legal.

[marias23]

30. Reminder: First thing to do if stopped in MI

Turn off your phone.

[AtheistCrusader]

35. No, enter your password wrong, three times to wipe the phone.

Well, depending upon your phone I suppose. Mine shoves data into the cloud, and uses outlook and facebook contacts for the phone directory, so I would lose nothing.

Your mileage may vary.

[apnu]

37. Or better yet refuse to turn over the phone.

My reaction? "Show me a warrant for my phone. You stopped me for speeding not talking on the phone officer." Also, like others said. Turn off the phone and put it away so the cop can't see it. They have no right to look at your phone without a court order.

[cui bono]

85. They don't need to see it, they can just use bluetooth.

You wouldn't even know they are doing it.

In fact, anyone on the street can take files off your phone if you have it set to share via bluetooth. There are apps that are made to do this, to grab files from other phones. Phones are computers now and need to be treated as such with security protection.

[cleanhippie]

40. And put it out of sight.

Then answer no questions.

[ck4829]

34. Welcome to the police state.

[AtheistCrusader]

36. This is going to fly like a bank vault, in court.

Completely unreasonable warrantless search.

[Newsjock]

38. I hope the people of Michigan will be happy paying out millions in lawsuit settlements

If not, perhaps they won't elect a teabagging governor next time around.

[OwnedByFerrets]

39. Constitution, Smonstitution....

What??? You think we still live in 1960's America, when the Constitution of the United States still meant SOMETHING???

[Ozymanithrax]

42. Technology makes privacy an illusion...

to those seduced by profusion
of electronic conveniences.

[Eric J in MN]

43. Cops don't have the right to search your phone just because you didn't see a Stop Sign.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated" - Fourth Amendment

[Patiod]

45. The only legal/valid use I can see is if it's illegal to talk/text while driving

and they're downloading a the time of your last call, to prove in court that you were talking/texting.

If that's the case, then all the machine should be able to do is list the times of your calls/texts for them.

Interesting comments on the article from the largely white, male, conservative audience at cnet. Lots of tea-partiers, blaming the Michigan's former Democratic governors/administration for this. :crazy: Although some of them do think the police might be over-reaching (damn gubmint! taxed enough already! more sainted vets at tea party rallies than at liberal rallies, so there!)
:crazy:

[PuffedMica]

105. Or the police find a dead body

Law enforcement would download the deceased person's phone information to try and identify them.

[Historic NY]

46. Five devices for the whole state? There not out in random use then....

as it seems the OP implies.

[groundloop]

54. That's a valid point. Maybe used to investigate crashes?

I'm wondering if they gather cell phone information at crash scene investigations to see if texting while driving played a role.

[Occulus]

58. Even one of these things is a violation of the 4th

if it is used to obtain content-related information.

IF all they're doing is getting information regarding the recipient, sender, and GPS data, they're in the clear. Any content-based information requires a search warrant, but law enforcement can issue a pen register request to gain the legal data. That these devices collect more than what is allowed by law without a warrant can only mean they are using the devices for more than that, since it is trivially easy for law enforcement to get what's legal for them to get without the use of such a device.

[keepCAblue]

47. If MSP can get away with this, other police agencies will follow...

...Today it may just be MSP using said devices, but if they continue to get away with this infringement, it will give other law enforcement agencies across the country, at both the state and local levels, the green light to do the same. Just a matter of time.

[Uncle Joe]

49. This is ridiculous, I wonder if the police ever draw a line anywhere

in re: to an individual's privacy without someone having to take them to court to do so?

Constitutional law; and how it applies to modern society should be required training for any police officer with emphasis on the Bill of Rights.

Thanks for the thread, bananas.

[bertman]

50. I guess I'm a bit dense, but I can't imagine why anyone would give an officer their

cellphone just because they were stopped for ANY reason. I'd just flat out say "No, you may not have my cell phone unless you produce a search warrant."

Am I missing something here?

Recommend this thread.

[sybylla]

51. So the first thing to do when you get pulled over is to turn off the phone and

park it in the glove compartment - requiring permission to search or probable cause.

[Occulus]

59. Apparently this can download from there as well

Safest thing to do is to remove the battery, but you can't really do that with a modern smartphone. I don't think even removing the SIM card would work.

A tinfoil bag might do the trick (like an empty bag of chips). Put the thing into a Faraday Cage and block the signal completely.

[AtheistCrusader]

60. No, it needs to be plugged into the phone.

It does not download wirelessly.

This is essentially the device the cell phone retailers use to move your old data like contacts, and photos, from one, older cell phone, to a new phone, regardless of compatibility issues.

Edit: I take that back, this is much more than a memory transfer, but it does need a physical connection to the phone to work.

[BrightKnight]

99. The same company sells Faraday bags. You won't know that it was done. - n/t

[L0oniX]

62. "To serve and protect" who?

[grahamhgreen]

64. How do we prevent it?

[freshwest]

71. Wallets (and larger items) are now for sale with materials embedded that prevent scanning.

They block reading the chips in anything, supposedly. If it's inside. The problem with the cell phone is that it's always broadcasting even when it's turned off, so it's readable. That's how it shunts calls to voice mail. But the wallets might work if it's kept inside them.

Since most states comply with DHS standards, there are RFID (or whatever) chips in driver's licenses, new passports, etc. It's part of airline travel and going into public buildings. The scanners have been in place along interstates and major roads, along with the ubiquitous traffic cams.

People accepted these in most states, although to their credit (eek) teabaggers pushed legislation to prevent states from implementing the 'National ID Card' system, but failed overall.

Not sure why they are publicizing this. The ACLU may have tried, but didn't stop other intrusions and data mining schemes. They are part of a set of dying institutions of mitigation between us and government, or increasingly, corporations.

And don't think that people working in related fields don't know and support all of these things vigorously, because they pay well.

[Ignis]

73. Here's an example of what Freshwest is talking about:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/8cdd/

In this case, however, MI cops are physically plugging the phones into a device to extract data.

[freshwest]

92. Thanks for bringing that up. My point was that in general, they already got your 'junk.'

They are getting away with violating the 4th when they stop without probable cause, but they can do it legally. The Patriot Act and DHS violate the Constitution every day of the week. There is no redress from the USSC.

Michigan is inflating the cost of discovery sky high with this one, to prevent the ACLU from going forward. And what proof do we have in the post-2000 world that they wouldn't alter the data?

It'll be interesting to see if the state whose citizens have accepted the Governor and lesser officials stripping their elected officials of the power to represent them will actually bow to the Constitution and change any policies because of the ACLU.

This is all from the creation of the Rust Belt in MI and the breaking of the progressive block of unionized industrial workers. It would seem well-informed citizenry would not have elected dictators. Or perhaps they did, and approve in the name of national security.

There is the way we want the USA to be, and then there is what is going on. We've accepted far too much for too long in order to maintain our standard of living. Now we know how it feels to be on the other side of martial law as imposed in other countries that our military turned into war zones. We created this world after ignoring the warnings of FDR against regimenting society.

:rant:

[Ignis]

93. I can't disagree. The Bill of Rights is so passe these days, isn't it?

:argh:

[freshwest]

96. Not to Democrats. And they usually try to stop this stuff. GOPhers are pure mafia.

[Ignis]

97. Usually, yes. But since 9/11, the track record hasn't been great.

I'm looking at you, (D) pols voting to extend the Patriot Act!

[freshwest]

98. 9/11 changed the world for the worse. Much worse. Remember the anthrax, etc.?

It was sent to the Democrats. These goons were not playing around. The coup of 2000 set the stage for everything we see now.

I would fault Gore, but then his family was being visited by busloads of Tom Delay's brownshirts nightly at the VP mansion, yelling obscenities and telling him to 'get the hell out of Cheney's house.'

That was after the USSC voted to make Bush POTUS but long before Shrub's being installed into office, the date those public places are vacated. All of this follows that decision.

In the meantime, all we can do is deliver a real progressive Democrat majority to turn the tide the other way. The Democrats who voted with the Patriot Act are drowning in a sea of GOPigs.

If Congress was full of Democrats, progressives would have a chance to influence their less liberal colleagues. Really. It's just that simple.

IMHO, everything that is done to demoralize Democrats is directly or indirectly, the work of the GOP. If there were no difference, they would not do what they do to us.

[Name removed]

86. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[boppers]

115. Ask for a search warrant, or refuse consent.

The OP title is a bit misleading, the article has been updated to reflect that these are search warrants or consented search.

[sarcasmo]

65. No surprise here, oink, oink.

[Action]

66. Cops gone wild

Folks voted for a man for governor who they had no idea what he was going to do.

www.firericksnyder.org

The cops here are going crazy. They are raiding medical marijuana businesses after a 6 month delay. Voters passed the medical marijuana bill big time. The cops don't care.

www.firericksnyder.org

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

83. Politicians gone wild

If the cops start raiding medical marijuana businesses, it wasn't the cops' idea. I'd bet some vote-seeking district attornies are behind it.

[BlueIris]

67. Gross. Glad I don't have a cell phone. nt

[Blue Owl]

70. Reminds me to thank a small-government Republican today

:sarcasm:

[SoapBox]

72. Outrageous....

...they can hardly wait until we become that military/police state.

Freedoms? Constitution?

It's becoming laughable.

[TatonkaJames]

75. Isn't that extortion ?

how is it they think they should get $500,000 for the information if they are in the wrong ?

[Clear Blue Sky]

78. iphones

iPhones logging location info too. To what or whose use?

[HardWorkingDem]

87. A couple of things - first, the article was terrible in the information it provided...

It provided virtually no information about how or why the police are getting these phone other than the one very broad statement which kind of seems overblown to me. It made a terribly broad statement open to wild speculation and people here are flipping out like crazy (as this story develops, I will not be surprised if half of the information in this CNET article is incorrect).

For another thing, I'm like everyone else around here wondering why a person would voluntarily hand over their cell phone to ANYONE.

Second, who is the person in Michigan who even came up with such a practice? With the advent of the smart phones and their technology, any person in the criminal justice system with half a brain understands there is an entire area of constitutional law that must be acknowledged. This is like kicking one of those mushroom-spore filled puffballs out in the woods. This guy is going to be pissing his pants when this blows up in his face.

[Yavapai]

88. If one agency is using it, soon all agencies will be using it also!

They have been using "call logging" for years without warrants. That is where the phone company
sets up a connection via computer, to log all the telephone numbers called or received from your
telephone.

[boppers]

114. Are you old enough to remember a long distance bill?

I'm not old enough to remember any phones that *didn't* track all calls, those got phased out around the 50's, I think.

[Yavapai]

89. One possible solution,

may be to hang onto your old cellular phone (when getting a new one), erase everything possible on it. Then remove the battery and carry it in your glove compartment.

When the officer wants your phone, give him that one and let him do his thing. Of course you will have to have your working phone out of sight
when stopped. Without a battery installed it can't "ping" cel sites, gps your route, and all the data will be old and outdated. They will know
that they have been had when they check the ESN (electronic serial number) with your carrier, but we all know that telephone companies wouldn't
allow illegal search, specially if its ATT. :sarcasm:

[guardian]

91. So what do they do

if you refuse consent to extract data? Are the police 'just asking' and people are stupid enough to give consent? Or are they forceably taking your phone and extracting info?

[SoulSearcher]

100. Seems to be related to v4 of the OS

Trying to find out if its the iphone4, or
any iphone running OSv4

[SoulSearcher]

101. But worse, Im disappointed in Apple

Woz would never have allowed it.
Evidently Jobs would, and did.

F*** You, Apple.

[boppers]

116. Sure you're in the right thread? This is about many phones.

Phones that store data can have data extracted.... that would be all phones.

On the iPhone matter, FWIW, the iPhone tower/wifi cache was in v3 as well, it was in a different location though. Android OS phones do it too, turns out to be a common feature to speed up location services.

[Corruption Winz]

107. On the one hand, I don't feel I have anything to hide...

On the other hand, that doesn't matter. It's about your rights. Something like this would usually require a warrant. Now, you don't even have to know about it happening.

Not right.

[roamer65]

113. Michigan is a "no texting while driving" state.

Sounds like they are going to try to use this device to prove if you were texting while driving. I do not text while I drive, but I doubt they will be able to read my phone when it is non-functional.