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L.A. settles with hundreds of victims of LAPD officer who snooped for celebrity private eye

Enthetan

Master of Disaster
L.A. settles with hundreds of victims of LAPD officer who snooped for celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano

An FBI investigation into the threat would uncover a criminal scheme in which celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano was illegally gathering information for his star-studded list of clients.

The scandal ensnared Hollywood powerhouses, executives and celebrities as well as a Los Angeles Police Department detective, Sgt. Mark Arneson, whom Pellicano paid to provide him with confidential law enforcement records on hundreds of people.

Fifteen years later, the city of Los Angeles is about to compensate victims of the scheme as part of a class action lawsuit settlement.
Why is this case relevant to the OSA section? Because among the clients of this PI, are John Travolta and Tom Cruise:

From 2006:
What secrets might Hollywood PI’s tapes reveal about Scientology stars?
 

Enthetan

Master of Disaster
The use of police resources by PI's employed by OSA becomes especially worrisome in light of the following article:

Supreme court cellphone case puts free speech – not just privacy – at risk

(snip)In the course of its investigation of the crimes, the government ordered Carpenter’s cellphone provider to turn over data it had collected relating to Carpenter’s movements. In response, the provider produced 186 pages listing every call that Carpenter had made over a 127-day period, as well as coordinates indicating where Carpenter had been at the beginning and end of each of those calls.
Your cell phone provider has data about your movements, which can be used to provide a picture of where you've been.

A while back, a high-profile critic (I forget whether it was Marty or somebody else) helped a high-profile SO person blow, and put him in a motel. OSA promptly found the guy at the motel and tried to recover him. The critic was mystified as to how OSA found the guy, since he had used somebody else's credit card to book the room.

One possibility is that OSA managed to get access to the cell company records tracking the critic's movements.

Lesson: if you are somebody OSA is interested in, and want to meet quietly with somebody, leave any cell phones associated with you at home.
 

screamer2

Idiot Bastardson
Lesson: if you are somebody OSA is interested in, and want to meet quietly with somebody, leave any cell phones associated with you at home.
You could also tape cell phones associated with you onto delivery trucks. Burners, of course.
 

Anonycat

Crusader
Or you could go to your phone settings and turn your GPS off. Using a burner (non-smart phone) is even better. Buy it with cash.
 
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