Boston Police Department Cell Phone Location Data

Shawn Musgrave filed this request with the Boston Police Department of Boston, MA.
Status
Completed

Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

All records relating to acquisition of cell phone location records. This request encompasses records regarding real-time tracking and records regarding where cell phones have been in the past, and it encompasses all available methods of locating cell phones, including "cell site," triangulation, and GPS. This request includes but is not limited to the following records:

(a) Policies, procedures and practices you follow to obtain cell phone location records;
(b) Data retention policies, detailing how long cell phone location records are kept, databases in which they are placed, and agencies (federal, state and local) with which they are shared;
(c) The use of cell phone location records to identify "communities of interest" (detailing those persons who have been called, or called by a target) in investigations;
(d) The use of cell phone location records to identify all of the cell phones at a particular location;
(e) Use of "digital fences" (systems whereby BPD receives a notification whenever a cell phone comes within a specific geographic area)
(f) The legal standard (e.g. probable cause, relevance) applicable to obtaining cell phone location records;
(g) Judicial decisions and orders ruling on applications to obtain cell phone location records;
(h) Statistics regarding your use of cell phone location records, including the number of emergency requests for which no court order was obtained;
(i) The form in which cell location records are provided (e.g. hard copy, or through online databases);
(j) Communications with cell phone companies and providers of location-based services regarding cell phone location records, including:
-company manuals, pricing, and data access policies;
-invoices reflecting payments for obtaining cell phone location records;
-instances in which cell phone companies have refused to comply with a request or order.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: BPI

We are in receipt of your request. We will contact you when your request is completed and the fee has been assessed.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Hello:

This public records request is more than 3 months overdue. Please let me know when I can expect a response.

Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: Estrada, David

October 9, 2013

Shawn Musgrave
Muckrock
requests@muckrock.com

Re: Public Records Request

Dear Mr. Musgrave,

You have requested documents in the possession, custody or control of the Boston Police Department under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, you requested:

All records relating to acquisition of cell phone location records. This request encompasses records regarding real-time tracking and records regarding where cell phones have been in the past, and it encompasses all available methods of locating cell phones, including "cell site," triangulation, and GPS. This request includes but is not limited to the following records: (a) Policies, procedures and practices you follow to obtain cell phone location records;(b) Data retention policies, detailing how long cell phone location records are kept, databases in which they are placed, and agencies (federal, state and local) with which they are shared;(c) The use of cell phone location records to identify "communities of interest" (detailing those persons who have been called, or called by a target) in investigations; (d) The use of cell phone location records to identify all of the cell phones at a particular location;(e) Use of "digital fences" (systems whereby BPD receives a notification whenever a cell phone comes within a specific geographic area)(f) The legal standard (e.g. probable cause, relevance) applicable to obtaining cell phone location records;(g) Judicial decisions and orders ruling on applications to obtain cell phone location records;(h) Statistics regarding your use of cell phone location records, including the number of emergency requests for which no court order was obtained;(i) The form in which cell location records are provided (e.g. hard copy, or through online databases);(j) Communications with cell phone companies and providers of location-based services regarding cell phone location records, including:-company manuals, pricing, and data access policies;-invoices reflecting payments for obtaining cell phone location records;-instances in which cell phone companies have refused to comply with a request or order.

In response to your request, a search of records was performed and the Department does not have any documents in its possession, custody or control that are responsive to your request.

From: Shawn Musgrave

Mr. Estrada --

Apologies for the delay in responding. Please confirm that your department does not even have responsive documents for the first category of documents, policies, procedures and practices you follow to obtain cell phone location records. As any number of investigations conducted by BPD each year involve the acquisition of cell phone location data, I would assume that after a year's delay on this request you would find at minimum whatever guide officers use to request this data from carriers.

Kindly confirm whether a diligent search was conducted in accordance with MGL. Given your response, I respectfully suspect that there are responsive documents within easy reach that you have not released even after many months.

Best,
Shawn

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: MuckRock.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 31, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

From: David Estrada

Please see the attachments.

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