Remembering Thanksgiving Day 2018: FAMILY EXPERIENCES THANKSGIVING DAY MIRACLE THANKS TO HAWK ANALYTICS

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With their support, San Mateo County investigators were able to locate a 70-year-old man trapped in his vehicle after a terrible accident in the mountains, reports hawkanalytics.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Bartonville, TX)—On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, around 5 pm, a 70-year-old man left his home in Cupertino, CA for a drive to the mountains looking for a place to go on a walk, which was quite common for him. Two hours after leaving his home, he called his family and told them that he was lost somewhere in Woodside, CA. After not hearing from him again and repeated calls to his cell phone going to his voicemail, the family used the “Find My iPhone” app which showed geo-locations in two separate areas in Woodside, CA. The family drove to those locations but did not find their loved one. Fearing the worst, at 9:45 pm, the family contacted the San Mateo County (CA) Sheriff’s Office to report him missing and seek law enforcement’s help.

The San Mateo County 9-1-1 communications center began pinging the man’s cell phone through Verizon Wireless trying to determine his exact whereabouts. Investigators also attempted to use the “Find my iPhone” app, which showed the same geo-locations the family had previously viewed. However, the locations were not changing, leading investigators to believe he may have been involved in a traffic accident or something worse. The continuous pings from Verizon also showed consistent geo-locations throughout the night, and they too were not moving. Patrol deputies, with the assistance of their fixed-wing aircraft, searched throughout the night into the early morning hours using the pings and apps but were unable to locate the missing man.

The next morning on November 22nd (Thanksgiving Day), investigators reached out to the exigent support department at Hawk Analytics, a software company specializing in analyzing and mapping cell service provider call detail records (CDR) involving investigations such as critical missing persons cases or violent crimes. A critical response team from Hawk Analytics was immediately activated to analyze these records to see if a specific search area could be identified. The Investigators, along with the Hawk team, knew the clock was ticking and if a traffic accident did occur, the missing man could still be alive.

Exigent requests were made to the man’s cell phone provider who promptly provided CDRs and specialized location records. These records contained historical cell activity such as phone calls, text messages, and data connection usage events. These records provide details such as which cell towers and sectors (antennas) were being used with a date and time stamp. The specialized location records, known as RTT, contained even more detailed information such as distance from the tower and an estimated location of the handset.

By analyzing the records in CellHawk, Hawk Analytics’ CDR Mapping software…

Read more about this case HERE

Nevada bill would allow police to search cell phones after a car crash

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LAS VEGAS, N.V. (KLAS) – If you’re using your cellphone and get into a crash in Nevada, a new bill — if it becomes law — would allow police to check your phone.

Assembly Bill 200 would allow police officers to ask you if you were on your phone and give them the ability to plug a device into it to determine whether or not that’s actually the case.

Think of this like a breathalyzer for someone suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. The device is similar to the ‘textalyzer’ app tested across New York State.

 The bill would allow for officers to confiscate a driver’s license and suspend it for 90 days, if they are unwilling to let police check their phone.

The traffic safety bill is generating a lot of debate.

Should police officers be allowed to check your phone after a crash to see if you were using it while driving?

“I think it’s acceptable, texting and driving tends to be one of the leading causes of accidents, and it’s very irresponsible for people to do be doing that behind the wheel,” said Nathalie Martinez who supports the bill…

Read more at www.news10.com HERE

Public Knowledge to Testify Before House Energy & Commerce Committee Against Sprint/T-Mobile Deal

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By Shiva Stella, February 12, 2019

Public Knowledge Senior Policy Counsel Phillip Berenbroick will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce Wednesday, February 13 at 10:00 a.m. His testimony in the hearing on “Protecting Consumers and Competition: An Examination of the T-Mobile and Sprint Merger” will argue that the proposed merger is a bad deal for consumers, competition, and America’s wireless future — and would increase wireless prices and fail to deliver any verifiable or merger-specific benefits.

The following may be attributed to Phillip Berenbroick, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:

“This merger will not serve the public interest. Anyone who relies on their cell phone to communicate with loved ones, and participate in our increasingly global, digital, and mobile economy, will pay more because of this merger.

“Since the transaction was announced in April 2018, T-Mobile and Sprint have had numerous opportunities to demonstrate to antitrust enforcers, regulators, policymakers, and the public that this four-to-three merger would not violate competition laws, would affirmatively serve the public interest, and that the substantial reduction in competition it would cause is somehow offset by other public interest benefits. They have failed to make the case.

Read more from Public Knowledge HERE

AT&T 5GE on iPhone and Android phones: What you need to know

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By Michael Simon, 02/05/2019

If you’ve seen 5GE on your phone’s status bar, don’t be fooled.

The 5G revolution is coming at some point, but AT&T wants Android and iPhone users to think it’s already here—even though it’s not. In short, if you see a new “5GE” icon in your status bar, you aren’t magically getting an upgrade to 5G. But there’s more to it than that. Here’s what you need to know.

What is 5G?

5G is the next step in wireless communication, offering theoretical speeds that absolutely blow away LTE. Even at the outset, customers will see wireless speeds that match what they get over Wi-Fi—up to 1Gbps in some cases. That’s far greater than the 20-30Mbps capable over LTE.

When is 5G arriving?

Actual 5G won’t arrive for a while, at least not in a nationwide capacity. Some 5G networks are technically live already, but they’re limited to home-based broadband and hotspots in certain areas of the U.S. So while the first true 5G phones should be arriving later this year, there won’t be anything close to nationwide coverage until at least 2020.

So then what’s 5GE?

AT&T’s 5GE network is merely a slightly faster LTE network. You’re still connecting to the same network as before, but through a combination of 4×4 MIMO and 256 QAM, some phones might see faster speeds in some areas. It’s basically marketing lingo.

What does the “E” stand for?

Evolution.

 

Continue reading at PCWorld  HERE

7th Circuit affirms man’s phone store robbery conviction

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Katie Stancombe, February 15, 2019

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a man’s conviction and sentence Thursday for conspiracy to commit robbery, finding the denial of his motion to change venue and suppress evidence was not erroneous.

In July 2015, Lawrence Adkinson and others robbed a T-Mobile phone store in Clarksville, Indiana, and then a Verizon store in Kentucky. With handguns drawn, they stole approximately 100 cell phones and other items. They later robbed nine additional stores, including three more T-Mobile stores.

Upon its investigation of the robberies, T-Mobile pulled data from cell sites near the first two victim stores to identify which phones had connected to them and were close to the crimes. From these “tower dumps,” T-Mobile determined that only one T-Mobile phone was near both robberies and that Adkinson was an authorized user on that phone’s account.

T-Mobile voluntarily gave the cell-site location information to the FBI, which then used it to obtain a court order under the Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2703, granting the FBI access to additional cell-site data.

Before his trial, Adkinson moved to suppress “any and all evidence obtained through cellphone records and/or triangulation of cellphone numbers,” arguing the government obtained it without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment. During voir dire, he also moved to transfer the case to a venue with “a better pool of African Americans.”  Both motions were denied, first finding T-Mobile was not a governmental agent and then that the venue motion was “extremely untimely.”

The 7th Circuit Court similarly rejected his arguments on appeal. It first found that federal law authorized the government to prosecute Adkinson in the district where he offended and that he had an opportunity to tease out any potential juror bias during voir dire.

“The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Adkinson’s motion because, regardless of his arguments regarding the emerging science on implicit bias, the Constitution does not entitle a defendant to a venire of any particular racial makeup,” the per curium order stated. “Adkinson’s attempt to create a presumption of implicit racial bias based on the racial composition of the jury venire fails. To the extent Adkinson subjectively worried about implicit bias, voir dire was the appropriate vehicle to address it.”

Read more from The Indiana Lawyer HERE