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from the this-explains-why-we-never-have-bars dept.
The US government will be forced to explain why its cell network kill-switch plans should be kept secret today.
Under Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303, the US government – in particular the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – is allowed to shutdown cellphone service anywhere in the country, and even across an entire city if it feels there is a crisis situation.
However, the actual content of the policy remains secret, raising fears that it is open to abuse. For example, it's not clear who is authorized to make such a decision nor under what circumstances.
There are also groups concerned that killing of cellphone service during an emergency could make things worse.
In a frequently quoted example, San Francisco's rail system BART flipped a cell network kill-switch in several subway stations in 2011 amid a protest over a BART cop who shot and killed a drunk homeless man ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/12/bart_polioce_cut_mobile_phone_service/ ). Charles Hill allegedly threw a knife at an officer before the police opened fire.
The fact that the network shutdown was ordered against a public demonstration raised immediate concerns over how the policy is written and implemented.
In February 2013, sparked by the BART event and a refusal by the DHS to release the policy under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the DHS ( https://regmedia.co.uk/2015/04/27/epic-case-dhs-phone-kill-switch.pdf ) [PDF] in order to get it to disclose the details.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday May 01 2015, @05:39AM
That is not feasible in the United States.
Telemarketers.
Just takes one of those to ruin your whole day!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Spook brat on Friday May 01 2015, @04:35PM
So, WalMart selling lists of recently-activated prepaid cell phones to telemarketers isn't a scummy, money-grubbing move; instead, it's a critical part of our anti-terrorism effort!
All right, then, carry on.
*Note: I have no evidence WalMart is doing so, they're just a convenient punching bag
Travel the galaxy! Meet fascinating life forms... And kill them [schlockmercenary.com]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday May 02 2015, @12:17AM
I have been told telemarketers are using - on the ground tier - "war games" type dialers that machine-gun style dial up every number in an exchange just to see if a human head will take the call. That's those calls that ring and when you pick up and say "hello", you get a dead line. It now has your number and the fact it got a human head on that number in that time window.
Once finding a human head that answers the telemarketing call, it will then route you to the next available telemarketer, however the human head soon senses it has been duped and it hangs up. No biggie, though. The number and time it was answered is now logged. It will now be shared and that number can expect a barrage of repeat calls from co-operatives of telemarketers sharing databases.
I have been told this technique is called a " Dial-a-head" ( or " Dial ahead ") . Using a machine ( that works very cheaply ) to dial ahead and blaze a trail of humans that will personally take a call is a very cost effective way of making dialing lists for subsequent telemarketing activity. They now have the universe of numbers filtered by which numbers at which time has been answered by an actual human head. By cross-correlating that number with other databases, they can get names and personal information which is used in the telemarketing effort to use a rapid-fire barrage of small-talk then trick the unsuspecting human that picked up the call into agreeing to some commitment, or at least extracting yet more information for their database.
I now whitelist my phone for this reason. If its someone not on the whitelist, they get the answering machine. The dial-aheads recognize answering machines because the machines always emit a lengthy spiel of reply, whereas a human always answers in "hello?"...pause ... "hello?" ... hangup. Once you get on those calling lists, it is hard to get off, as it costs them nothing to place calls.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]