FBI keeps GPS tracking of Americans a secret

Police are tracking you without a search warrant.
The second of two police GPS trackers found on the vehicle
of a businessman in California.

FBI violates the Freedom of Information Act and hides its spying on the American people.



The American Police State  -  The American Civil Liberties Union has been given information on how Washington determines when it can surveil American citizens using GPS. The documents are so heavily redacted by the Justice Department, though, that they are essentially worthless.

­The redacted sections – which consume several paragraphs and even entire pages – are thought to show legal interpretations outlining the government's rationale on tracking its citizens with GPS. With so much of the documents blacked out, Americans are still wondering whether the federal government is required to obtain a warrant before spying on them with GPS technology – and if so, when exactly it can do so.

The ACLU says it will ask for a court order requiring the Justice Department to release the documents, which the group says are "improperly withheld."

FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann was sitting on a panel last February discussing the Supreme Court's recent decision that found installing a GPS tracking device on a suspect's car constituted a search and would require a warrant reports the Huffington Post.

The court's ruling was creating some issues for the FBI, Weissmann said. The bureau had even had to figure out how to track down and uninstall the GPS devices without turning them on, fearing flipping the switch might violate the Supreme Court's ruling.

But Weissmann said guidance that would clear things up for agents was almost finalized. In fact, he had a draft of the memo with him, and he lifted it up to show the audience.

Nearly a year later, the Justice Department has provided two memos outlining its obligations under the GPS case, known as U.S. v. Jones, to the American Civil Liberties Union, which released them on Wednesday. The memo Weissmann held up addresses GPS devices.

The other addresses "additional investigative techniques," which might cover the other location tracking techniques -- cell phones, drones, license plate readers, etc. -- that the Supreme Court didn't mention in its ruling.

Both opinions are almost completely redacted.

Unsurprisingly, the ACLU -- which filed a lawsuit in August seeking the release of the memos under the Freedom of Information Act -- isn't satisfied. The group argues the memos are essential because they reveal how much discretion law enforcement has when it comes to communications technologies the Supreme Court hasn't weighed in on yet.


US government tracks American citizens
The rare 9-0 decision by US Supreme Court was clear - law enforcement agencies need to get a warrant from a judge before using GPS tracking devices to follow the movements of citizens.

Judge Andrew Napolitano
Police Using Cell Phones to Track People Without Consent
Judge Andrew Napolitano discussed the legal ramifications on Happening Now, saying the action is indeed violating our Fourth Amendment rights if the government didn't first issue a search warrant. He continued, saying that we wouldn't know if they were tracking us because each phone has a GPS device in which government software can allow them access.

You are not allowed to know.
The FBI blocked out pages and pages and pages of information about them spying on the Americans people.  Even using the Freedom of Information Act the Big Brother state hides information from you. . . . . . and both political parties are silent as they vote to  fund the growing Police State.

"Courts are often slow to extend constitutional protections to new technologies," writes ACLU staff attorney Catherine Crump in a blog post to be published Wednesday. "The telephone was invented in the 1870s, but not until 1967 did the Supreme Court hold that the government needs a warrant to wiretap a telephone conversation."

Calling DOJ's decision to heavily redact the memos "unfortunate," Crump writes it "leaves Americans with no clear understanding of when we will be subjected to tracking—possibly for months at a time—or whether the government will first get a warrant."

Josh Bell, an ACLU spokesman, told HuffPost the civil liberties group believes the memos are being withheld improperly and plans to ask a court to force the Justice Department to turn them over.

"The purpose of FOIA is to make sure the government doesn’t operate under secret law -– and right now that’s exactly what these memos are," Bell said.

(Huffington Post)          (RT News - USA)

Always salute your leaders and show them the proper respect.
A Police State is a safe and happy state.

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George Washington