In message <[log in to unmask]>, at 09:51:05 on Wed,
30 Nov 2011, Simon Howarth <[log in to unmask]> writes
>The ability to do this has indeed been around a long time. The
>capability was there back when I was doing work for a mobile teleco in
>2001 and I am not sure it was new then.
>
>The act of anonymously tracking a phone to identify hotspots and
>provide information to store owners is not so much an issue from my
>point of view. I could always switch my phone off as I am of the
>generation where a mobile phone is not a necessity (unless I am working
>- in which case I wouldn't be shopping).
Partly because of the Internet and mobile phones, but also because of a
self-employed lifestyle, many of us are never fully "off duty". And I've
taken quite a few important calls at airports, which of course are
nowadays not much more than shopping malls whose smooth running is
interrupted by the departure of planes.
>The thoughts in the article as to whether or not it's technically
>illegal (can you be technically illegal?) are interesting and it will
>be interesting to see where this leads.
While it's tempting to think that capturing data from phones might be
interception, I think it's excluded by 2(9)c:
"any data comprising signals for the actuation of apparatus used
for the purposes of a telecommunication system for effecting (in
whole or in part) the transmission of any communication"
This exception was introduced (against industry opposition, who felt it
was too widely drafted) by request from law enforcement, who said they
needed to be able to investigate "dial-through" fraud on PABXs without
the tedious stage of applying for a warrant to intercept the traffic
(the sender in this case being the fraudster, and the recipient whoever
he was dialling at the PABX owner's expense).
So we'd need to fall back on DPA considerations (and permission to do
surveillance, for public authorities).
--
Roland Perry
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