We all now know that after 168 years the newspaper
News of the World shut down its operation. Why? Well cutting a long story short – News of the World shut due to phone hacking.
Now as the news keeps rolling out about the scandal, allegations are being made that paid police offices tracked
mobile phones and eavesdropped on conversations. This is certainly raises numerous questions.
According to some sources it can cost anywhere from £300 or more to located a handset. This process is slightly easier on devices that contain
GPS tracking systems such as the
iPhone. Nonetheless, there is no concrete evidence to support such a claim but if it is true then this certainly does undermine the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and potentially puts us all at risk. Well those of us who own a mobile phone.
In line with the afore mentioned Act, only certain officers in each police force are authorised to make enquiries into located an individual by the use of locating their phone and their requests must first be approved by a senior colleague.
Mobile phone operators are certainly reluctant to discuss what level of detail they are allowed to provide to the police. However, there have been numerous examples of the police tracing criminals and even missing persons by the location of their mobile phones.