Now this is some cool technology. I could see how this would be very helpful to law enforcement for investigations. But of course, the ACLU has shown some concern about such devices being used and how they could infringe on privacy rights. That is a legal issue, and I am more concerned about the utility of such a device.
This is what I was thinking as soon as saw the thing. The US military/contractors should have these devices at every major FOB where local nationals are working at, and every cellphone that comes through the gates or is held at the gate, should be scanned. I would even do it without the individuals knowing that it was done. All is fair in love and war, and if folks are using their cellphones to make communications with the enemy, I think it is within our best interest to find that out.
You could also set up check points throughout a city of interest in a war zone, to randomly collect cellphone data. Because cellphones are being used everywhere in the war zones and developing world, it is dumb not to tap into that resource and use it for some kind of tactical advantage.
Of course this technology is nothing new or radical, and I am sure the FBI and others have been using it for awhile. What is interesting though is the ease of how to collect and organize this information. Next step will be scanners that folks walk through, and the phones are automatically scanned without having to hook them up to anything. These scanners could be hidden and placed in key places within cities, and anyone with a cellphone/smart phone, will be scanned without knowing it. Then with data mining software, all that information could be scanned for patterns or for red flag numbers, etc. This could even be added to a census program–which we have learned in places like in Iraq that this kind of data is vital for understanding the terrain in which you fight. Lots of interesting uses for this stuff. –Matt
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