How cops spy on you

I first started seeing cell tower location data being used by local law enforcement in Mississippi in 2007.  All the police have to do is send a subpoena to the cell phone company, and the cell phone company will send over the information showing where a person's cell phone was at any time of the day or night.  That subpoena isn't signed by a judge, and it certainly isn't given to the person who is the target of the investigation.

That means that if you're like most people and carry a cell phone with you everywhere, the police may well know the answer to the question "Can you tell me where you were last night?" before they even ask it.  Given the increased ability of police to track your every move without you even knowing it, it is more important than ever to utilize your 5th Amendment right to silence and your 6th Amendment right to counsel immediately if you are being questioned by police.  The last thing you want to do is to make your plight worse by telling the cops something they can later prove as false.

And it doesn't stop with cell phone tower locations.  The website ArsTechnica has a good article about what police can obtain without your knowledge and how easily they can obtain it.  It's a good read, and something to always keep in mind when sending things you might not want to advertise to the world.  Here's the article: emails, text messages, and IP addresses, oh my.