PC BLOGGS SAYS PING!

(The following was written by a serving police offer and reproduced here with the author's kind permission)

What does it take to get the Headquarters Inspector to PING a mobile phone?

For the uninitiated, mobile phone companies can triangulate the rough location of a mobile phone by checking which transmission mast it is nearest to. Because this information is covered by the Data Protection Act, in order to get it you have to get AUTHORITY. This means someone who has passed two exams and made friends with the right people will decide yes or no. It can only be done in certain circumstances.

Here are some circumstances in which the Inspector will NOT authorise a "PING":

* Someone's just burgled my house and stolen my mobile phone. The phone is still on, can we PING it to find out where the burglar is? NO.

* My brother just rang me to say he is in the woods with a shotgun and he is going to kill himself. Can we PING his phone to find him? NO.

* My 10 year old child has been missing all evening. Can we PING her mobile phone? NO.

* Someone I know just stabbed me, wounding me seriously, and ran away. He's hiding somewhere. Can we PING his phone? NO.

Other information that you can ask for is:

* The guy who robbed me used my mobile phone to make some calls. Can we ask the mobile company who he called, to track him down? Yes but we have to submit three different forms and wait three months for the answer. The first of these forms is to confirm who is the subscriber of your phone. But it's me. Yes, but we have to confirm that by a month-long wait.

* My ex-boyfriend has been harassing me. In interview he claimed that I phoned and texted him just as much as he did. This isn't true and I want you to take my mobile phone and look at it to prove it. OK, but we have to submit three different forms and wait three months for the information. But I'm telling you it's ok to look at my phone. Yes, but we have to fill in the forms anyway. This is taking too long, I desperately need my phone for work. Can I have it back? NO, it has fallen into the abyss that is the Police Property Store and you will never see it again. You should have thought of that before you gave it to us.

* Someone has been phoning me and threatening to kill me. I have no idea who this person is, but they seem to be watching me all the time and yesterday my brake pipes were cut. Can you find out who is the subscriber to that mobile phone number? Yes, but it will take three months. I'll be dead by then. Yes, but at least we won't have unlawfully invaded anyone's privacy.

(Source: PC Bloggs, Oct/06)