"Cell phone users, beware. The FBI can listen to everything you say, even when the cell phone is turned off."

This is the worst kind of sensational journalism, implying that the FBI is listening into everybody's cell phone calls. Only in the last sentence do you let the reader know that the FBI "maintains" it strictly observes the law and only engages in surveillance after obtaining a warrant from a judge(requiring evidence of probable cause that a crime has been committed and this person committed it). Why not just say "Homeowners Beware-The FBI can come in your house and search all your belongings!!!!"

What a fantastic thing to know the government can do. Actually, I've heard about this before, from people I know who work for different federal agencies who've said when they do anything personal, they always leave their phone at home because someone could listen in (even with it off). I thought it was just talk, but here's the proof.

The potential for abuse or misuse of this is staggering. Which says nothing of what could happen if a band of geeks in a basement decipher exactly how this is done. The potential for real damage to people's lives could be incalculable.

Why would manufacturers even allow for this type of function? I'm sure there's industry taxbreaks involves somewhere and dire pleas of national security. In the process, nothing you say can really be private.

If you don’t want a dictatorship then stop building one!

Thanks again news media! Now the bad guys know they have to leave their cell phones in the bathroom while they discuss their criminal intentions! Are there No secrets in the military or law enforcement anymore?

We are officially turning into East Germany.

Anyone who thinks this is ok, needs to move to China or Russia.

Don't give me the "if you're not doing anything wrong..." spiel. This is Big Brother, 1984. Sick sick sick.

This is insane that this judge gave the government this kind of blank power to surveil. What a nut job.

Having worked for the government in my past, this is just one more thing that reminds me of the fact that the general public has really no idea what-so-ever of how big our government is and what it is capable of. I think America needs to wake up and realize that our government is so big and so deep into things that it denies that it would shock us all. Kinda sounds like that movie V for Vendetta, doesn't it ? So ask yourselves, are we really as free as you think we are ?

What about ONSTAR? I guess the FBI can listen to every conversation while we are driving in our cars, doing business transactions or making out with our girlfriends?

I believe that we as Americans must do everything within our power to protect each other using any and all methods available. Of course I am directing this at terrorists not rendomly abusing the intent of the law. I only hope the government doesn't abuse this power as they have in the past.

This ia a crock. ABC news should do more checking before publishing a story!

Warrants? We don't need no stinking warrants.

That was a STOOOOPID vote. According to the article the FBI gained access through a judge to use this procedure. They could and can do that by bugging a home or office. No difference as long as they got the courts approval. Orwellian? Doubt it since, we as individuals open our lives to "Big Brother" or scum of the earth voluntarily by subcribing to cell phones and internet. Dont get a cell or access to the net!

I've read 1984 three times. Big Brother IS upon us. I recommend the book highly.

How far away does the listening post have to be? I don't think they can with a encrypted satellite phone. Can you give me details? I need the info for a future illegal wire tap, right to privacy court case. Thanks Lucy.

I think that it is so cool but if you do that then I would hope that if you heard somthing personal then you wouldn't tell everyone! I would hate to bye a phone and then have the whole world find out somthing personal!!! It will be able to find out people that might try to attcak our nation! I like it as long as nothing is repeted!!

No, i dont' think it's fair.
Everyone has personal lives that don't want to be invaded.
I understand if the government is trying to keep us safe, but this has gone too far.

No, but what I would like to know is why did the FBI, CIA need the blessings of congress to wiretap when they could just rove the suspected terrorist? Lucy

If you're not doing anything wrong, then you should have no worries about being bugged!

Cell phones are electronic loudspeakers. Acitve calls have allways been intercepted. No one had a problem some years ago when the Israely government killed a terrorist by blowing up his cell phone. Since these phones are transmitters it is easy to defeat the tracking feature. Simply intercept the transmitted signal either by defeating the antennae or putting the unit in a metal box.

I commend and applaud the FBI for following the laws of the United States of America by obtaining court orders and submitting to ongoing judicial scrutiny for all electronic surveillance it conducts. Maybee the White House, the NSA, and CIA will also start following the laws of the United States of America. Maybee not. The difference between the (White House, NSA, CIA)and the FBI is "THE LAW". The FBI follows it but the others arrogantly & flagrantly desecrate & destroy it.

wow....very scary...someone needs to do something about this!

I approve of cell phone eavesdropping on the Genovese crime family. There has to be some balance or recourse for the abuse that will happen, though. Perhaps a fine for illegal use, or the ability to civilly sue the agents who deploy it, their supervisor, department, and judge who approves it. Nothing restrains a person's behavior like having money removed from their wallet.
Ed

this sounds like a lot of crap to me

This is way tooooo much. Enough spying on us...you can't have privacey in your own bedroom. The government needs to stop it.

Mr. Ross: The ability to use televisions has been extant for more than ten years here in Texas, and it is used indiscriminately, notwithstanding the protests of the FBI. In addition, these surveillance devices continue to be combined and used as weapons like in the movie Minority Report. Please help investigate and reveal. Be advised, you will become a target of these pain giving body interfering RF waves that are used as an RDIF system on our homes and our very living spaces even with protests to all in authority daily. Complaints do not work. The state/locals will not act against another unit of drug enforcement or other unit. The meters to prove this electronic assault are expensive, and the average person unaware of it anyway. Illness is being caused and disabled people are being harmed 100 percent of the time and the authority unable or unwilling to stop it. George Orwell didn't know the half of it.

"The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and except in darkness, every movement scrutinised."
George Orwell, 1984

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness."
George Washington, Circular to the States, May 9, 1753

It's not "You have nothing to fear unless you're doing something wrong".
It's "You have nothing to fear unless the government is doing something wrong."
SearingTruth

Is this part of The Patriot Act Package?

WEll...it's not surprising that out government would take advantage of technology to spy on it's citizens; given the free reign that the judicial branch has given our "prezodent" to execute warrentless wiretapping on "people of interest".
It's just another tool to undermine the freedom they say they're trying to protect. It used to be freedom from oppression, to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; but now it seems more and more like it's the freedom to control the every movement of it's citizens. Are we free anymore?
With this new development, anyone with a cellphone has to wonder if the government is listening to them and judging the life they live.
I see us decending into a world where every word and thought is broadcast to those in power, robbing us of the freedoms that our constitution was supposed to guarantee. A sad day indeed.

I can't believe my eyes ..... there are people in this blog who APPROVE of these kinds of intrusions by the government !!!! Kudos to all who invent countermeasures to thwart the government !!!!

I feel this whole thing is wrong and should't be allowed to be done to anyone.It is an disshoner to be an American in this world today. Where will this world be in life in a few years. Nothing is yours, not even your own words and thoughts.

Would people stop blaming the judge? I have to think, if I were in his shoes, I'd do the same thing. It'd spare me the countless hours of hearing Bush stumble through speeches about "inherent powers" and so on. Besides, a decision like this always opens up the door to appeals.
On the other hand, if enough of us think this is a bad idea (I certainly do), let's write our Representatives and ask them to impeach this rogue. After all, judges are the officials most often and most successfully impeached by Congress.

What if... you can also be heard, or seen, through your TV or monitor via cable, internet or even AC power...?

Well... it's been posible for years!

Why be so paranoid? All you do is waste your life away in front of the TV anyway!

the problem i see are these phones are out in the public domain.to get a warrent to bug someone's office because you have evidence of criminal activity there ,is one thing.to have a bug that can be brought into unsuspecting third party homes is another

I don't agree with it unless it is used in the same way as wiretaps. As in, it requires a court order to allow this "celltap".

I wonder about the implications worldwide? Is it possible for the CIA to turn on the microphone of the Canadian Prime Minister's cell phone? I mean they all use the same satellites right? And are there any other countries that have this capability?

I would be more concerned with what the Angels hear you say than the FBI. The Government can kill your flesh but after that they can do nothing more. Oh, does your cell phone have a camera?

"Holy cow Batman, they know who you are"

I THINK THIS IS CRAZY WE HAVE NO PRIVACY I THINK THAT THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO INVADE ON ANYBODY PRIVACY LIKE THAT WHAT GOES ON IN PEOPLE HOMES IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS

Assuming that the article is correct about the FBI being able to listen in on _any_ recent cellphone, then I would say that the real story here is why manufacturers are complicit with this sort of spying.

Seriously - when the government is unable to pass laws directly enabling them to do something, they turn to big business and offer incentives (or extortion) in return for favors.

For example, look at PayPal. They have constantly lived under the fear of being regulated as a bank. So far, they haven't been. Notice that they also don't allow people to sell anything "morally objectionable" - even though the items in question may be perfectly legal. Why is that? Because the government essentially extorts companies like this - in PayPal's case, do things the government's way, or else get treated like a bank - and watch your business model dissolve.

This sort of thing happens all the time, and this is the real crime. Corporations should stand up for consumers and freedom. But they don't, and the government takes advantage of that.

Government manipulation of big corporations is a serious back-door to circumventing the constitution.

Where are we safe from government intrusion? Cell phones are pervasive - now so is the government's ear. Maybe worse, so is the ear of anyone else with this technical capability. Think about that - criminals monitoring victims, terrorists spying on law enforcement, political opponents doing what Nixon did. No checks and no balances and you never even know it's happening. Ask yourself: Is this the country our Founding Fathers envisioned...

THIS IS WONDERFULL!
The future is finally here, nobody needs to feel insecure anymore. Crimes can be prevented before they are executed. Big brother can take care of us all, no terrorist can ever manage without cell phone. Only thing to be afraid of is that big brother will go grazy. But since everyone knows that US goverment and secret services can always be trusted, we have no worries at all.

Cheers from Finland

ps. no, I'm not communist, although probably of course listed as something like that by those very sophisticated US systems saying "lives in Europe, critisizes US goverment -> commmunist or worse".

They are using the "terrorist" as a reason to pass any law, and we are indeed a communist state, or getting very close to it. Pretty soon the SS will come busting down your door, hell, they are doing this already, they are just called the "police" and not "SS".

We should be more concerned about al-Quaida and their terrorist allies, then about so-called Big Brother FBI. I for one have nothing to hide, and I wish more of our citizens would stand up and stop these media investigations from revealing all our national secrets to the enemy.

With all the laws being passed in this country it's no wonder things like this happen. Joe Citizen wants the government to look out for him, his kids, his food, his health,his car. He doesn't want to have to think for himself, he doesn't want to have to take care of his own, not when we can pass laws to take care of it for him. Well Joe, looks like you're getting just what you wanted!

The article may be about the FBI's use, but, the technology is availble regardless. A company or large group with significant resources or a good hacker can probably do this as well. Companies should be worried about potential corporate espionage using this tactic.

Gosh, I forget to charge the cell phone half the time. Does that mean that once the battery is out of juice any potential intrusion is thrwarted?

Welcome to America. Nothing new here as this is par for the course for government. The Patriot Act is nothing more than a blank check.

The same law enforcement and federal agents who shoot 88 year old black women and gun down teenagers with Playstation remotes in their hands or bachelors at a party are the same people who are asking you to trust them.

There is a reason they dont want you to have assault weapons or anything capable of defeating them. There is a reason your checks are direct depostited, you internet, phone, and cable are digital and your cell phones are satellite. Every car you buy now can be tracked because they already come with tracking devices and I am not talking about ON-Star. Cell phone tracking is nothing new. Neither is following your digital fingerprint.

Big Brother has been at this a long time and the guise has always been 'crime', 'communism', and now 'terrorism'. The tools of the trade have only changed and cell phones are just one tool.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

This is crazy. I wonder if I can take my new phone back to Verizon and tell them that I want out of the contract because of this and that it was never disclosed to me?

This is total BS.

While everyone here is speculating whether this be a good or bad thing, try actually living through this. I know on a very personal level about invasion of privacy. I and my family have been victims of this very thing. For several months now I've had my phone conversations, emails and even conversations in my own home monitered. And why one might ask? Because of a personal issue within my own family and the family member who has been reveiled for something that they did many years ago happens to be employed by a government entity. It's an abuse of power to say the very least and it has absolutely nothing to do with " terrorism." The problem is proving this abuse, for what they say on the web about myself or my family is not word for word verbatem. Just enough to let me know that I'm being watched. Though I'm not doing anything wrong in my life, I find it very distressing to know that someone out there is listening to my every word. Hell, they'll probably even get a copy of this. Yet now I'm at the point that I don't really care what they hear or see because despite the laws that have been passed through congress, the bottom line is this is still illegial as all get out when it has nothing to do with actual terrorism.
This is just another example why the government has no right to moniter American citizens and you never know when it could be used for a personal vendetta, such as the case as with myself.
Orwell's vision is most definately here.......

Anyone who believes that the FBI or any government agency always follows the "rules" need only to look at their circumvention of the FISA courts. Power corrupts, period. I'd rather they not have a loaded gun in the office, because over time, there's a good chance he'll use it on me.

THose who give up liberty for security deserve neither, they are cowards.

you all seem suprised amerika is a survielance police state....the bell curve finally bites you from behind,
like iraq, or the economy, or the housing $ collapse. youve elected fools with whiz bang policy , and now you wonder how it happened? relax proles , its only meant to intimidate dissidents anyway, and, they know most of you are paycheck johnny with a beer and a remote.
they know you dont care as long as gas is cheap and the trailer mortgage is paid....
we need to elect a president with a better god, bushes god isnt blessing america much these days.
the only good thing about the police state is , is that when things swing toward sanity again, it should be easy to round up all those who nearly bankrupted america thru greed.........

The implication for me is not whether the FBI follows the letter of the law in it's own use of this technology but rather who else is the technology available to and will they be as scrupulously judicious in their use of it as the FBI apparently is?

dont agry with it... its not wright..

LOL @ everyone who assumes this isn't done legally. It says so in black and white right in front of your faces, yet you still whine about your rights being violated. Didn't these people notice that this was done with a judge's approval in a criminal investigation involving organized crime?? And for those of us in federal law enforcement, it's sad that these people will never understand just how difficult it is to get a T3 order sometimes.... Sad.

Ok, so they are good and getting better but why can't they come up with a device to tell which of the roadside bombs in Iraq are set to be exploded when called by a cell phone or could they just dial all the numbers assigned to Iraq very quickly and set all the bombs off and do that every hour or so until all the builders are killed. better use of the FBI money in my opinion.

This is not at all the same as searching someone's house. When the FBI knocks on your door and searches your house you know exactly what's going on and they obviously can't do it without a warrant. But in this case anyone within the FBI can just spy on you, no one has to know. Obviously this system is extremely vulnerable for abuse.

Yea..Dang those news people. Dang them all to heck! Y'all, if our media can find out this info, so can the media from across the 'pond'. Starting to remind me of that old saying of the messenger/barer of bad news. Does anyone else remember that saying?

Unfortunately, but true to uniform, the one Law Enforcement Officer who shows up here calls us whiners and demonstrates first class the line they themselves have drawn between 'Us and them'. Pretty typical LEO mentality. Whose whining? Us or you? Like I used to say in the military, you put on the uniform, quit complaining about it and serve.

The potential for abuse and misuse of power is what is at stake here. In this instance, a judge signed off in a "criminal investigation of organized crime". So what, right? Good that they put away scum.

But the erosion of true freedoms, not civil liberties but real freedoms, like the right to bear arms or a right to privacy always starts innocently and under another guise. Dont believe me? Look at the McCarthy era. Look at America today.

Good luck Bubba. I am sure when the time comes you will be the right 'tool' for the job.

What i'm really worried about is when a huge pile of computer nerds sit down and find a way to listen in to our conversations...

You people are all having delusions of grandeur if you think the "government" wants to listen to you talk on the phone. This program, if it really exists, is meant for serious Federal crimes to which dozens of agents are assigned to and which are meant to either put dangerous criminals in jail or to capture terrorists. The "government" (which by the way is made up of people who also speak on cellphones) has no interest or time or personnel to listen to you talking to anyone. Get over yourselves.

Nothing new really, the alphabet agencies have been doing this kind of thing for decades in one form or another - been there done that. What I'd like to see is the blog author provide the source url, if you are going to quote something put the reference in there so the context can be checked - that is a standard.
Rustler

Vic and Krista. Doin' the high level reportin'. Did you guys get your credentials from Chuck E. Cheese University? Nice job of inflamatory reporting. What ever happend to objective reporting? Does this concept even exist at ABC? I'll bet your editors used to work for fine and upstanding print media like, The National Enquirer, The Star or perhaps The Sun. I think this is a great tool! No more dangerous or misusable (is that a word) than bugs and other listening devices. 1984? Indeed. Get a life.

I suspect that turning the cell
phone off and wrapping it in
aluminum foil will defeat this
new "feature". Radio waves don't
go through aluminum foil very well.

While this story's primary value is to sensationalize non-proprietary facts of modern life rather than to crack some super secret, most of the bloggers responding need to pull their heads out of the sand and read. We want complete priveledge and convenience and safety with no personal cost. You want to use plastic instead of cash - that identifies you, tracks you and profiles you. You buy clothes and items from Walmart which have RFID chips imbedded - allows the same as your plastic. You want a TIVO box in you living room to record shows or movies for your convenience but do you know what it provides to the service? Don't panic, just become aware of the trappings of modern life in a technologically driven World!

If you people think that this entire cell phone thing is bad, you don't even know the half of it!!! The US government is doing things far worse to impede your personal freedom than listening to your cell phone. It's dispicible and the people need to take the power back. We need another American Revolution, this time not against the Brittish, but against our OWN GOVERNMENT! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

I have no problem with it. Little stuff like this is nothing compared to the sacrifice our service men and women are making to keep this country safe. i don't consider myself a radical nor do i have any affiliation with the government. i'm a normal working man who appreciates his privacy but if this helps keep me safe, so be it. i'm not crazy about someone listening in on me but guess what...it ain't gonna kill me. PEOPLE...LIGHTEN UP!! this wouldn't be the end of the world, and (commenter Josh on 12/5 will love this) i'm not doing anything that i have to worry about. with the state of the world we have now there are a LOT of bigger issues to worry about.

As a native New Yorker, one who was completely shaken up after 9/11, I COMPLETELY disagree with this ruling. I understand the need for law enforcement to take surveillance to another level in order to intercept terrorist communication, or the communication of criminals who are terrorizing our neighborhoods, but there has to be a line they can not cross. Being able to turn my cell phone into a microphone even when it's off is crossing that line! I'm beginning to wonder if the conspiracy theories that warn about how our government will begin to control our every move and be able to see everything are actually true.

They can only tap your phone if they go through a due process which means they would have had the right to bug you by other means. This does not give the FBI the go ahead to listen to just anyone's conversation. Assuming they stay within the realm of the law.

The president has already said the government doesn't need a warrant to tap our phones. So the fact that the FBI says it will continue to follow "the law" just means they will tap whoever they want.
"Thanks to the media, now the bad guys know...." and "If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear...." are statements only a sheep would make.
Soon there will no longer be a need for warrants, since we will soon no longer have any civil rights. When the day comes that the government wants to put cameras in all of our homes "for our own protection", will you simply roll over and say, "Oh, OK"?

...and anyone who is stupid enough to believe that the FBI or any government agency actually pays the slightest attention to the law (which they are charged with upholding!) deserves what they get - namely, spied on.

Where is the independent oversight? Where is the check and balance?
Anytime your privacy is invaded - especially if you are unaware of it - you are directly affected, and Big Brother wins again.

It's people like pappy, above, who are the real problem: "just role over and take it" cause the govt know best...tell me this pappy...there are laws on the books in most states regarding sexual practices defined as "illegal". By your logic, since you have nothing to hide, then you won't mind having a policeman stationed in your bedroom just to make sure?

Or do you suddenly "get" why it's called "PRIVACY"?

I'm all for it. Maybe it will also result in people not using their cell phones so much.

They could easily do the same thing with your telephone - listen in on the telephone's microphone, or even easier to use would be the microphone on a speakerphone which is found in almost every office. However listening in within people's homes or businesses is very serious business which MUST be over-seen by Congress.

However of course the Republican-lead Congress has had minimal over-sight over the electronic eavesdropping activities of the intelligence agencies, which may have encouraged the development of some of these more invasive listening techniques. I wonder if we will see electronic counter-measures, for example a device that you can attach to your cell phone to notify you of unusual radio waves etc.

Lots of reasons for and against this cellphone "feature" but remember that rights and liberties are taken incrementally and slowly ... look at 1930's Germany. The Nazis got friends and family to be the "wiretaps", now the cellphone has assumed the role and we pay for the wiretap in the cost of the cellphone.

I'd like to know who "encouraged" and financially supported the development of this "feature".

While I'd like to feel safe from terrorists and criminals, and believe that wiretaps are a good move toward that end I don't like the idea that a "bug", which normally must be put in place has been built in to my phone.

It's too easy for this "feature" to be abused by the government and anyone that understands electronics knows that it will be cracked and hacked, exposing us to more malicious and criminal activity than before.

I guess I'm not really surprised by this, every major civilization before us fell after about 200 years, and we are past due. The fall always began with the breakdown of morality and overcontrol by the government. Research the history.

Those who cannot remember the sins of the past are condemned to repeat them.

Everybody, I really don't have a problem with this. What's the big deal if they know what I'm saying. I have nothing to hide. Besides, if you've got a problem with it, just take out your cell phone's battery. Forget about aluminum foil. The only thing that worries me is that this turning into both of the Orwell books "1984" and "Animal Farm." You all know what happens in "1984," but some of you might not have read "Animal Farm," so I'll tell you. Basically, It's based on the Soviet Union. The leaders are pigs and they slowly change the rules until the animal "utopia" becomes a slave farm. All rights are taken away and the leaders are greedy and turn into the humans they had revolted against. That's what I'm worried about. Our leaders will turn into the one thing we fought against in the first place, in the American Revolution. You know what they use to persuade the animals into going along with it? "Surely, comrades, you don't want Mr. Jones [the human who had previously run the farm] back?" You know what my respone is to that? "Surely, Americans, you don't want the tyranny [British]back?"

The simple fact is that not everyone is a criminal! For the most part, a warrant has be had before doing anything against a suspect. You must have probable cause. I'm only a teenager and I don't want the FBI listening to my private cell phone calls. Why not have a warrant in order to be able to listen in on a cell phone? Are they going to watch us on a t.v. screen and see what we are watching at home and bust in our homes and tell us we can't watch something? I think not! This violates people's, who do nothing wrong, rights. Now just because we don't need a warrant to tap our phones doesn't mean that I or anyone for that matter wants the FBI to listen to our private business. This only makes it seem like, to me anyway, that they could tap anyones cell phone and just listen for their own pleasure and because they can. They don't even have to have a reason.

I knew my battery was draining faster than normal when I wasn't using it...I've got to flush some things down the toilet.

The only ones worried about this are the terroist and the liberals in this country that are anti-America to begin with.