I was looking back through some old tech stories last night when I came across one on cellphone tracking. Maybe you remember the story?
A few years ago, an iPhone user found his phone was compiling a list of cell towers he’d pinged and when. He even plotted his iPhone derived itinerary on a map (above).
It’s obvious, your cell carrier has to know where you are to deliver calls. What was surprising was the ‘dossier’ being kept. A lot of people were upset.
Here’s where I was wrong. I said cell companies could do that tracking, but not the government. After all, there’s the 4th Amendment.
Now we have Edward Snowden’s revelations. I feel like a sap. My script was very naive.
I’d rather not be enough of a cynic to see conspiracy everywhere. I’d rather not be so jaded I can’t believe denials from those in the know. I was played. We were all played.
It’s tough not to be jaded and cynical now.
I’m on FlightAware