Kansas delegation seeks U.S. law to compel sharing of cell phone ‘ping’ data in life-or-death cases

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Federal lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri renewed a campaign Friday for passage of legislation requiring U.S. wireless telephone companies nationwide to disclose cell phone locations to law enforcement officers engaged in life-or-death investigations of missing persons.

In wake of Johnson County teenager Kelsey Smith’s kidnapping and murder nearly 11 years ago, officials in Kansas, Missouri and 21 other states implemented laws mandating mobile communications businesses assist agencies in emergencies by sharing information about movement of a person’s cell phone. The idea is to triangulate the “ping” of phones to towers to speed law enforcement responses.

“Expediting the process of locating a cell phone could have helped save Kelsey’s life, and I hope we can pass this bill to save the lives of other innocent children who are abducted in the future,” said U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican and co-sponsor of the measure.

Read More from the Topeka Capital Journal Here

FreedomPop Leverages Sprint/T-Mobile Deal to Launch ‘Unreal Mobile’ MVNO

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FreedomPop announced it’s spinning out a new MVNO brand, dubbed Unreal Mobile, to offer unlimited plans starting at $15 per month — and company executives are not being shy about using competition concerns surrounding the proposed Sprint-T-Mobile merger to their own advantage.

Now the company is seeking to leverage the T-Mobile-Sprint situation, as the carriers wait for regulatory approval from multiple agencies for their proposed $26.5 billion deal. The two have argued the combination will allow them to compete with rivals Verizon and AT&T, but also with new wireless entrants like Comcast.

“Unreal Mobile is able to provide consumers this unprecedented value because of the market conditions created by the proposed merger,” FreedomPop said in its release. “Specifically, while Sprint and T-Mobile are currently working to prove to regulators that competition will flourish under consolidation, they are compelled to accept MVNO models and pricing that historically would have been seen as too competitive to their retail businesses.

Read More from Wireless Week Here

Pentagon Adopts New Cellphone Restrictions

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After months of debate, the Defense Department approved Monday new restrictions for the use of cellphones and some other electronic devices in the Pentagon where classified information is present or discussed. But officials stopped far short of imposing an all-out ban.

The memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, largely clarifies current procedures and calls for stricter adherence to long-held practices that require phones be left in storage containers outside secure areas where sensitive matters are discussed. But it makes clear that cellphones can still be used in common areas and other offices in the Pentagon if classified information is not present.

The memo was signed by Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan. Pentagon officials said they do not yet have a cost estimate for the construction of storage areas where the phones can be left without creating a threat to security.

“In this day and age, with the level of threat-based technologies, most of those devices should never get anywhere near a classified workspace,” Garry Reid, the Pentagon’s director for defense intelligence, told The Associated Press in an interview. “We know that mobile wireless devices have recording capabilities and cameras and it’s not appropriate for those to be in secure workspaces. So we have to put control procedures in place.”

More than 25,000 people work in the Pentagon, ranging from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to restaurant workers and cleaning crews, and many use their phones for family emergencies and other needs.

Read More from Wireless Week Here

Verizon, AT&T Will Sell ‘Holographic Smartphone’

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Verizon and AT&T announced Thursday that they will each offer what is billed as “the world’s first holographic smartphone” later this year.

Digital camera maker RED this week detailed its Hydrogen One smartphone, an Android device that seamlessly switches between 2D and 3D content, along with “holographic multi-view content” and interactive games, without the use of glasses or headsets.

“When the RED Hydrogen One launches, you’ll be able to look around, below and into your screen’s image with a 4-view holographic display, which is even better than 3D,” AT&T SVP of Device and Network Services Marketing Kevin Petersen said in a statement.

RED officials also touted the device’s “expansive multi-dimensional audio,” as well as its integration with RED cameras, a dedicated channel for holographic content and an “ever-expanding modular component system.”

Read More from Wireless Week Here

Website flaw exposed real-time location for millions of cell phones, experts say

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The vulnerability was found in a website run by LocationSmart, a company that aggregates cellular location data so it can be used by third parties — such as app developers — to verify users’ locations or send location-based promotions.

LocationSmart has location data for all four of America’s largest wireless providers: AT&T, (ATT)Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S).

The flaw was discovered by Robert Xiao, a security researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, and reported Thursday by KrebsOnSecurity.

KrebsOnSecurity, a popular cybersecurity blog run by Brian Krebs, said it “verified” the vulnerability could be exploited to reveal the location of “any” phone on the four major US cell phone networks as well as several other smaller providers.

Read More from CNN Here