[HN Gopher] Police can get your data - even if you aren't suspec...
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       Police can get your data - even if you aren't suspected of a crime
        
       Author : arkadiyt
       Score  : 121 points
       Date   : 2021-08-01 15:56 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.vox.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.vox.com)
        
       | tomohawk wrote:
       | 1) its not your data if it is not on equipment you own
       | 
       | 2) this is the cost of free services
        
         | malwarebytess wrote:
         | And both of these things are wrong and should be changed. We
         | don't need to be beholden to the disastrous third-party legal
         | doctrine.
        
           | tomohawk wrote:
           | Just because they're wrong and should be changed doesn't mean
           | that they are not true now.
           | 
           | If you don't like it, then these are the fundamental things
           | that need to be reconsidered.
        
       | artificialLimbs wrote:
       | Fun (mildly related) story - a couple months ago I was pulled
       | over for speeding. I had a very good reason to be doing so IMO
       | (medical). The cop took my license and when he came back to the
       | car said "Mr artificialLimbs, I can see that you don't like cops.
       | It says that when I pull up your records".
       | 
       | 1.)I have no idea why they think this, especially since I donate
       | to the state troopers every year. I may cancel that
       | subscription...
       | 
       | 2.)WTF I live in the U.S. If this profiling doesn't directly
       | violate laws, it certainly violates the spirit of "All men are
       | created equal".
       | 
       | I am considering filing FOIA for video and all records pertaining
       | to myself to find out exactly what he meant, and then writing
       | congresscritters.
       | 
       | *edit spelling
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | throwaway75787 wrote:
         | He was testing you. Possible inferiority complex in the face of
         | whatever your legitimate reason was.
        
           | intricatedetail wrote:
           | Maybe he was bored and was looking to trigger someone and
           | then get them arrested. Data gives them hints what will work
           | best.
        
             | artificialLimbs wrote:
             | I don't think so, fwiw. He was actually mostly nice.
        
           | whatshisface wrote:
           | I think perhaps that should be stepped down from a "he was"
           | to a "he could have been."
        
             | rhizome wrote:
             | Well, there's basically no legal way that that kind of
             | information is in the databases accessible via his car
             | computer, so he's already lying by saying "you don't like
             | police" and "it says that when I pull up your records."
             | Police also protect their tools with a fierce secrecy, so
             | they don't just banter about what they can access on their
             | computers, especially when that would mean they're
             | revealing functionality or data that doesn't have a
             | compelling government interest, unless they're lying about
             | it.
             | 
             | You can step it back up yourself by turning the question
             | around: by what mechanism, process, or law would your
             | opinion of the police appear on a screen in a police car?
             | 
             | In my book, as far as surveillance or internet comments
             | (etc.) information getting used at traffic stops goes,
             | that's an extraordinary claim begging for extraordinary
             | evidence.
             | 
             | Ancillary links:
             | 
             | Difficulty of retaining a wide spectrum of information:
             | 
             | https://apnews.com/article/us-news-police-lawsuits-maine-
             | law...
             | 
             | Random information comes from in-office access:
             | 
             | https://apnews.com/699236946e3140659fff8a2362e16f43/ap-
             | acros...
             | 
             | Basis for investigation not at traffic stops:
             | 
             | https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-
             | reports/when...
             | 
             | Maybe something more detailed can be found here:
             | 
             | https://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,4643,7-123-3493_72291-294063
             | -...
        
               | leetcrew wrote:
               | I'm not sure exactly what kind of mechanism they have to
               | track such information, but some departments clearly do
               | keep tabs on people who are vocally hostile towards
               | police.
               | 
               | take a look at this video if you have a minute. dispatch
               | explicitly warns the officer that the guy has said
               | threatening things about police on social media.
               | unfortunately, the encounter ends in a (very likely)
               | unjustified shooting of an unarmed suspect.
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFWR73R9G3E
        
         | LatteLazy wrote:
         | Aren't law enforcement immune from FOIA requests?
        
           | barbacoa wrote:
           | Police have qualified immunity but not from FOIA (or their
           | state equivalent laws).
        
         | cryptonector wrote:
         | > "I can see that you don't like cops."
         | 
         | He's trying to get you to talk. It's like: "where are you going
         | tonight?" (if the answer is "home", then "where from?", if the
         | answer to that is "a restaurant", then you'll get "did you have
         | anything to drink tonight?", and if you answer "yes", then next
         | up is "please step out of the car").
         | 
         | The way to deal with this is to start by asking the office why
         | they stopped you, and then "am I being detained or am I free to
         | go?". The officer will instantly know that you know not to
         | answer his questions about anything other than your name and
         | address, so now all they get to do is find violations to ticket
         | you for -- and well they might, but it will be harder for them
         | to find something serious.
        
         | dTal wrote:
         | >I donate to the state troopers every year
         | 
         | Wait, what? ...are they not tax-funded? Forgive me, it's your
         | money, but are underfunded state troopers such a problem that
         | there's nowhere else you'd rather put your charity?
        
           | artificialLimbs wrote:
           | They tell me it's to hand out teddy bears to kids. When they
           | send the paperwork though, it says it's for all manner of
           | things. I assume they're telling the truth and this is just
           | CYA, but who really knows.
           | 
           | Is there a reason you think I only donate to one charity? I
           | don't think we need more people telling people they're
           | donating to the wrong charity. We need more charity.
        
             | dTal wrote:
             | No, I don't assume that you only donate to one charity. I
             | do assume that the amount you can donate to charity is
             | capped, and that charity allocation is therefore zero-sum -
             | a dollar you donate to the State Troopers is a dollar you
             | haven't donated somewhere else. I agree that we need more
             | charity, but donating to the "wrong" charity - one that
             | does not use your money to do good effectively - is as bad
             | as not donating.
             | 
             | As for how the State Troopers spend it - I would trust the
             | paperwork.
        
           | throwawayboise wrote:
           | It's not funding for their jobs. It's funding for
           | associations such as FOP[1] that do some combination of
           | advocacy/lobbying for police interests, and local charitable
           | work.
           | 
           | 1: https://fop.net/
        
           | cryptonector wrote:
           | Trooper _associations_.
        
           | e40 wrote:
           | I've been getting calls for years at home where the caller
           | would say "Mr XXX, this is the police" and then a pause and
           | then "don't worry, we're just calling to talk to you about
           | <some charity event>".
           | 
           | I have friends who tell me they always donate because they
           | are afraid of repercussions. Lately the calls are actually
           | bots, and very good ones. I had a short conversation with one
           | and I thought they were human, before I hung up. Next call
           | sounded exactly like the first, so I asked "are you human?"
           | and after asking 2-3 times I got transferred to a human and
           | told them to take me off their list. Haven't been called
           | since.
        
             | dTal wrote:
             | Um. I don't often swear on HN, but _what the fuck_.
             | 
             | It should go without saying that it is _not normal_ in a
             | civilized society for the police to harass and intimidate
             | random people over the telephone into giving them money -
             | let alone _automating_ it.
        
               | artificialLimbs wrote:
               | There is no mention above about people being harassed and
               | intimidated.
        
               | dTal wrote:
               | Yes there is. Phoning someone and saying "This is the
               | police", followed by a pause, is _calculated_ to raise
               | people 's heart rate and stress them out. They _know_
               | that because they follow it up with  "don't worry" -
               | people shouldn't be worried in the first place. It
               | deliberately plays on people's fear, and that's
               | despicable.
               | 
               | Then there's the fact that some people fear repercussions
               | for not donating. How did they get that impression? An
               | honest misunderstanding, no doubt...
               | 
               | Then there's the repeated robocalling. That would
               | certainly harass me.
        
           | thatguy0900 wrote:
           | you get a little sticker to put on your car when you donate,
           | the usual suspiscion is that people who have those stickers
           | are treated better if the cop sees it, so a lot of people
           | donate.
        
             | artificialLimbs wrote:
             | I don't have a sticker, and have never gotten one, as a
             | single data point.
        
               | thatguy0900 wrote:
               | Interesting. Here in Ohio they advertise it https://www.f
               | opohio.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_page.cfm&pag...
        
             | dTal wrote:
             | Carrot _and_ stick? Oh this just gets better and better.
        
         | kypro wrote:
         | This really highlights how incorrect the "nothing to fear,
         | nothing to hide" argument is. With enough data anything we say
         | or do which someone with authority doesn't like can be used
         | against us, either directly as a means to criminalise us or
         | indirectly as a motive to find some reason to criminalise us.
        
           | Robelius wrote:
           | Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court
           | of law.
           | 
           | They're explicit in saying how they will use information.
        
             | SilasX wrote:
             | That statement is the Miranda warning and refers to
             | statements made during custodial interrogation. But yes, it
             | does feel eerily true in general now.
        
               | cryptonector wrote:
               | It's also true of statements made prior to custodial
               | interrogation, it's just that the police don't have to
               | read you your Miranda warning prior to taking you into
               | custody.
               | 
               | This means that you have to be super careful when
               | speaking to the police _at all_. And by super careful I
               | meant: don 't. Watch professor James Duane's videos on
               | the topic, and Don't Talk to Police. Also, if arrested,
               | you can't just stay quiet: since Salinas v. Texas the
               | defendant must actually invoke their 5th amendment right
               | to keep quiet before actually keeping quiet, otherwise
               | their keeping quiet... can be used against them in a
               | court of law. You'll learn that from watching professor
               | Duane's videos.
        
         | austincheney wrote:
         | > I can see that you don't like cops.
         | 
         | Does it really matter? The result of the encounter would be the
         | same either way, whether or not favorable. The best you can do
         | is not provide anything to confirm an unqualified suspicion.
        
           | artificialLimbs wrote:
           | If the result of the encounter would be the same either way
           | then there is no reason to store the data.
        
       | legrande wrote:
       | > You might get swept up in one just because you were in the
       | wrong place at the wrong time or looked up the wrong search term
       | 
       | And who gets to decide what a 'wrong' search term is? What if I
       | wanted to figure out how nitrate bombs were made just out of
       | plain intellectual curiosity, and not for the purposes of harming
       | others?
       | 
       | And for sensitive search terms, I use Tor+DuckDuckGo and call it
       | a day. Now and then I do that if looking up sensitive topics /
       | health information like `how to cure hemorrhoids` or sexual
       | health issues like ED. I would _never_ use Google for topics like
       | that!
        
         | karencarits wrote:
         | Regarding Google and sensitive topics; why not? I often search
         | on a lot of topics that could be sensitive but it would be
         | really hard to separate pure curiosity from something serious
        
           | darig wrote:
           | OK, Karen. Time for jail.
        
       | MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
       | You have no rights in front of a cop. You only have rights in
       | front of a judge. A cop can break every single one of your rights
       | as they want, including kill you. It's frankly the most absurd
       | system to ever exist. Your rights should exist well before it
       | makes it to court (if you want to wait that long...if you get a
       | court date). This whole system that cops can escalate your
       | punishment and practically ruin your life financially is the
       | greatest injustice in criminal justice system of the US. But talk
       | of worker protections and limiting police powers is evil rhetoric
       | here among the actual ruling class.
        
         | shrimp_emoji wrote:
         | >It's frankly the most absurd system to ever exist.
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/J7MYlRzLqD0?t=103
        
           | MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
           | Lol, well at least you didn't have to worry about figuring
           | out how you'd pay your bills after you become exonerated.
        
         | infogulch wrote:
         | https://youtube.com/c/AuditTheAudit
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | yawaworht1978 wrote:
       | This depends heavily on the country. Some countries severely
       | restrict what police can access,in former or current
       | socialist/communist countries the people expect nothing less than
       | all data available to the government and in the US the people
       | believe somebody safeguards their data and privacy, this is
       | almost ironic when you think about how many google , Facebook etc
       | are out there, not to mention agencies like NSA doing mega data
       | collection wherever they can.
       | 
       | Doesn't matter much on an individual basis, the governments will
       | always find a way to get what they're looking for once they
       | seriously target you.
        
       | joelbondurant wrote:
       | Tungsten core bullets fix USA thugs.
        
       | adevx wrote:
       | When I had to comply with a recent data request for a police
       | investigation I had to provide all data of anyone who had
       | favoured/bookmarked a certain profile. I realized just how easily
       | a person's data can end up in an active investigation.
        
         | intricatedetail wrote:
         | How do you know you had to? Companies send such data out of
         | fear. Many jurisdiction require prosecutor or judge to sign
         | request. Giving police data just like that may be against the
         | law. One of reasons small websites die, because they have no
         | money for legal advice.
        
           | adevx wrote:
           | It was a signed request by a prosecutor after having been
           | quizzed about what data they could get. I would never freely
           | hand over such data.
        
             | quesera wrote:
             | Some prosecutors will charm you into cooperation.
             | 
             | A request by a prosecutor is an informal request.
             | 
             | A search warrant signed by a judge is a formal demand.
             | 
             | Your corporate data policy will dictate whether you can
             | share customer information without a search warrant or a
             | subpoena.
        
             | xenocyon wrote:
             | Was it mandatory to comply with such a request? I was under
             | the impression that mandatory court orders need to be
             | signed by a judge (not a prosecutor).
        
               | adevx wrote:
               | The request was signed by a Dutch prosecutor (Officier
               | van Justitie) In the Netherlands, not complying can
               | result in a jail sentence with a maximum of 3 months [1].
               | 
               | I do believe this request was pushing the legal
               | boundaries as the law describes the request should be as
               | specific and narrow as possible [0]. (with "as possible"
               | being a rather big loophole)
               | 
               | (Dutch)
               | 
               | [0] https://maxius.nl/wetboek-van-
               | strafvordering/artikel126nd
               | 
               | [1] https://maxius.nl/wetboek-van-
               | strafrecht/artikel184/lid1#:~:...
        
               | throwawayboise wrote:
               | Many companies will comply with a police investigation,
               | warrant or not. You can't reply on third parties
               | demanding a warrant before they release your information
               | to someone with a badge.
        
             | rhizome wrote:
             | Are you sure "a signed request by a prosecutor" was enough
             | to _require_ you to hand over the data?
        
             | cyphertruck wrote:
             | That's not a warrant signed by a judge. I'm not judging you
             | but I want to clarify, this was merely a request from a
             | prosecutor, with no warrant covering it?
             | 
             | Sounds like a violation of 18 U.S. Code SS 242. Deprivation
             | of rights under color of law -
             | https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242
             | 
             | and 18 U.S. Code SS 241. Conspiracy against rights -
             | https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/241
        
       | kylehotchkiss wrote:
       | iCloud backups are a treasure chest that Apple hands over to law
       | enforcement more easily than people assume. Just backup to your
       | laptop. If there's a legal need to access your devices, you'll
       | have the warrant served to you directly.
       | 
       | Also Tresorit offers end to end encrypted cloud storage. If
       | you're storing a lot of sensitive documents like ID scans,
       | account statements, medical paperwork, it's worth a
       | consideration. Then if your iCloud storage has to be handed over,
       | at least you maintain some privacy in those matters.
        
         | ronnier wrote:
         | https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303
         | 
         | Seems some of iCloud is end-to-end encrypted. These features
         | and their data are transmitted and stored in iCloud using end-
         | to-end encryption:                 * Apple Card transactions
         | * Home data       * Health data       * iCloud Keychain       *
         | Maps Favorites, Collections and search history       * Memoji
         | * Payment information       * QuickType Keyboard learned
         | vocabulary       * Safari History and iCloud Tabs       *
         | Screen Time       * Siri information       * Wi-Fi passwords
         | * W1 and H1 Bluetooth keys
         | 
         | Things that are not e2e: photos, iMessage, Notes, Mail,
         | Contacts, and others.
         | 
         | I'm wondering, are the Safari cookies e2e encrypted?
        
           | novok wrote:
           | Such a bizarre swiss cheese approach to E2E isn't it?
        
             | kylehotchkiss wrote:
             | https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2021/01/apple-scraps-end-to-
             | end-e...
             | 
             | Interestingly apple was planning end to end encryption of
             | backups but changed their minds on the matter.
        
               | ronnier wrote:
               | So is the browsing history not e2e encrypted in the
               | backup?
        
               | TheParkShark wrote:
               | I'm under the impression this was government influenced.
               | Anytime Apple has increased their encryption talk they
               | are pressured by the feds.
        
           | dTal wrote:
           | Wow. Photos are up for grabs but god forbid anyone see your
           | "memoji"...
        
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