Telephone calling records

[sync pulse]

Telephone calling records have been subject to search for a considerable time.  I believe there is a legal basis in that there is no expectation of privacy of calling records,…because you are making it known to a third party, (the telephone company) by dialing the number of whom you are calling.

As I understand it…the legal precedent was set when calls were connected by human operators shoving plugs into jacks,… you had to tell the operator the number and thus you had no expectation of privacy…she would make a paper trail of the call.  

When telephones got dials, local calls were routed by large arrays of mechanical switches…(the first computer logic was based on telephone switching offices). With the exception of long distance which were still handled by human operators (who timed calls with the same timers that pool rooms used to time pool table use) no routine record was kept of local telephone calls.

To obtain a record of who people called locally became something you had to seek out by installing a device called a “pen register” on the line in question. If you refer back to the earlier telephone era of human operators whom the callers had to tell the number that they were calling…only now you are dialing the number into the switching system…with no expectation of privacy.

Enter into the scene ESS…electronic switching systems…controlled by computers.  Calls are always super clear, easy to understand, with lots of neat new things that the telephone can do.

Such as:

• You dial someone and if the line is busy…when the person you called hangs-up the  system will call you back and connect you.
• You can see the number of who is calling you.
• If you are going to the gym you can have the system forward your calls to the gym’s front desk.

And many more.
All this requires the system to remember the numbers of whom you are calling,…with no expectation of privacy.

Fast forward to the cell phone era:

• Like wired telephones you have to tell the system (dial) the number you want to call.
• The system in order to route calls it has to know which tower you are closest to (your cell phone reports to the nearest tower every six seconds)…so the system knows where you are.

All with no expectation of privacy because originally you had to talk to human operators to route calls.

[avxo]

Telephone calling records have been subject to search for a considerable time.  I believe there is a legal basis in that there is no expectation of privacy of calling records,…because you are making it known to a third party, (the telephone company) by dialing the number of whom you are calling.

As I understand it…the legal precedent was set when calls were connected by human operators shoving plugs into jacks,… you had to tell the operator the number and thus you had no expectation of privacy…she would make a paper trail of the call.  

When telephones got dials, local calls were routed by large arrays of mechanical switches…(the first computer logic was based on telephone switching offices). With the exception of long distance which were still handled by human operators (who timed calls with the same timers that pool rooms used to time pool table use) no routine record was kept of local telephone calls.

To obtain a record of who people called locally became something you had to seek out by installing a device called a “pen register” on the line in question. If you refer back to the earlier telephone era of human operators whom the callers had to tell the number that they were calling…only now you are dialing the number into the switching system…with no expectation of privacy.

Enter into the scene ESS…electronic switching systems…controlled by computers.  Calls are always super clear, easy to understand, with lots of neat new things that the telephone can do.

Such as:

• You dial someone and if the line is busy…when the person you called hangs-up the  system will call you back and connect you.
• You can see the number of who is calling you.
• If you are going to the gym you can have the system forward your calls to the gym’s front desk.

And many more.
All this requires the system to remember the numbers of whom you are calling,…with no expectation of privacy.

Fast forward to the cell phone era:

• Like wired telephones you have to tell the system (dial) the number you want to call.
• The system in order to route calls it has to know which tower you are closest to (your cell phone reports to the nearest tower every six seconds)…so the system knows where you are.

All with no expectation of privacy because originally you had to talk to human operators to route calls.

I believe there's a reasonable argument to be made about pen registers - although the way they've extended them into the Internet is... questionable. However, are pen registers what's at issue here? If the documents and information published are even remotely accurate, this goes way, way beyond a pen register.

[sync pulse]

One of the issues is calling records...who called whom and when.

[avxo]

One of the issues is calling records...who called whom and when.

But that's only one of the issues - and not a particularly controversial issue at that.

[Skip8282]

Telephone calling records have been subject to search for a considerable time.  I believe there is a legal basis in that there is no expectation of privacy of calling records,…because you are making it known to a third party, (the telephone company) by dialing the number of whom you are calling.

As I understand it…the legal precedent was set when calls were connected by human operators shoving plugs into jacks,… you had to tell the operator the number and thus you had no expectation of privacy…she would make a paper trail of the call. 

When telephones got dials, local calls were routed by large arrays of mechanical switches…(the first computer logic was based on telephone switching offices). With the exception of long distance which were still handled by human operators (who timed calls with the same timers that pool rooms used to time pool table use) no routine record was kept of local telephone calls.

To obtain a record of who people called locally became something you had to seek out by installing a device called a “pen register” on the line in question. If you refer back to the earlier telephone era of human operators whom the callers had to tell the number that they were calling…only now you are dialing the number into the switching system…with no expectation of privacy.

Enter into the scene ESS…electronic switching systems…controlled by computers.  Calls are always super clear, easy to understand, with lots of neat new things that the telephone can do.

Such as:

• You dial someone and if the line is busy…when the person you called hangs-up the  system will call you back and connect you.
• You can see the number of who is calling you.
• If you are going to the gym you can have the system forward your calls to the gym’s front desk.

And many more.
All this requires the system to remember the numbers of whom you are calling,…with no expectation of privacy.

Fast forward to the cell phone era:

• Like wired telephones you have to tell the system (dial) the number you want to call.
• The system in order to route calls it has to know which tower you are closest to (your cell phone reports to the nearest tower every six seconds)…so the system knows where you are.

All with no expectation of privacy because originally you had to talk to human operators to route calls.

I'm no lawyer, but this doesn't pass the sniff test.

We have every expectation of privacy when talking on the phone - in general at least.  If I'm blabbing away in public where anyone can sit there and listen, then maybe not.  If I'm at home talking to my doctor or wife, then there's no question we have an expectation of privacy.

[sync pulse]

I'm no lawyer, but this doesn't pass the sniff test.

We have every expectation of privacy when talking on the phone - in general at least.  If I'm blabbing away in public where anyone can sit there and listen, then maybe not.  If I'm at home talking to my doctor or wife, then there's no question we have an expectation of privacy.

Not your conversation...Whom did you call? When? For how long? Where did you call from? Where was the person you called when you talked to him?...Those records.

[Skip8282]

Not your conversation...Whom did you call? When? For how long? Where did you call from?...

OK... I think I'm understanding.  The contents are private, but those other factors are not.

Thanks.

If that's the way the courts have been ruling, they we need some serious reform.

[avxo]

OK... I think I'm understanding.  The contents are private, but those other factors are not.

Thanks.

If that's the way the courts have been ruling, they we need some serious reform.

Pen registers (i.e. recording of "metadata" such as the number called and the duration of the call) have been allowed for decades. You only recently found this out?

[Skip8282]

Pen registers (i.e. recording of "metadata" such as the number called and the duration of the call) have been allowed for decades. You only recently found this out?

Shut up asshole.

Unlike you, I don't have a pathetic need to attempt to portray myself as an expert in everything.

Run along now and go tell some more combat vets about how lighting fast we're going to take out North Korea. 

[avxo]

Shut up asshole.

I'll take that as "Yes, I just found out about this and feel the need to express my outrage!"

Unlike you, I don't have a pathetic need to attempt to portray myself as an expert in everything.

Unlike me? Interesting, I didn't realize I had such a need. I guess I must become even more of an expert in psychology.

Run along now and go tell some more combat vets about how lighting fast we're going to take out North Korea. 

You really think if we were committed, it would take more than the payload of a B-2 to flatten out Pyongyang? Because, shit, beyond that, there isn't much else there...