U.S. Law Enforcement using Cellphone Tracking Tool Fog Reveal

Guest 931 · Sep 1, 2022

JOSEPH MACKINNON
September 01, 2022

The cellphone tracking tool Fog Reveal has been utilized by law enforcement agencies across the U.S. to track American citizens and study their movement. The tool — to which access is secured by way of subscription — helps investigators and others bypass cellphone companies and internet service providers when seeking users' historical GPS data. Fog Reveal has also been used to track citizens without search warrants, prompting some to questionwhether it violates the Fourth Amendment.

Fog Data Science is a Virginia-based company founded by Robert Liscouski, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division. The company buys geolocation data collected by a variety of cellphone apps such as Waze, Tinder, or Starbucks and time-stamped through wifi, Bluetooth, and cell towers. It visually renders this data intelligible and accessible to subscribers via its Fog Reveal interface, on which members of law enforcement and private-sector clients can search a mobile device's location data by time and place.[...]

The third-party apps installed on phones by users are critical to the data capture. According to company documents acquired by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) through Freedom of Information Act requests, "Based on each mobile device manufacturer's operating system configuration and the user's security settings, these apps can continuously broadcast the [Advertisement Identification Number] and location information for these mobile devices." [...]

Beyond protests, police can use Fog Reveal to warrantlessly track law-abiding citizens to and from gun stores, mental health facilities, churches, and synagogues. Guariglia suggested it could also be used by the state to flush out whistleblowers or surveil journalists.[...]

The EEF stressed that if you have third-party applications on your smartphone and there's a possibility you have conferred any of them access to your location data over the past several years, then Fog has likely has access to your data. Although you might remain on the National Security Agency's radar, by disabling ad tracking and the mobile ad identifier on your phone, you might be able to deny Fog some insights into your pattern of life.
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https://www.theblaze.com/news/mass-surveillance-tool-used-warrantlessly-may-violate-4th-amendment

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U.S. Law Enforcement using Cellphone Tracking Tool Fog Reveal

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