Ifeanyi Igwebuike Mbanefo lays the groundwork for new thinking around using emerging technology to fight local terrorists in Nigeria.
It’s past noon on a Sunday and unknown gunmen strike in three, four or five different locations or towns in our dear state leaving tears, blood and sorrow — their regular trade marks (apologies to Fela).
As usual, there no witnesses. No one steps forward with useful or actionable information or to identify the perpetrators; the victims are not talking.
This looks like an unsolvable case, right?
You are wrong!
A geofence warrant will provide immediate and comprehensive solution.
A geofence warrant is a legal order obtained by government and law enforcement agency to collect data from electronic devices within a specific geographical area during a particular timeframe.
It allows investigators to acquire information such as GPS coordinates, timestamps, and other relevant data from mobile devices, wearables, or any connected devices that may be present within the designated area or crime scene.
To activate it, the government can
establish a virtual perimeter, known as a geofence, using GPS coordinates.
The warrant specifies the area and time period during which data will be collected.
When the geofence process is complete, any phone identified within the perimeters of the crime scene within the probable time of the crime is suspect.
It belongs to either the criminal or a witness. Or a victim.
Google will identify all active devices gadgets within the geofence and assign an anonymized identifier that only temporarily specifies a single device for the period of the warrant process. Once the warrant phases have been completed, the anonymized identifiers are deleted by Google.
To be clear, a geo-fence warrant (also known as reverse location warrant) is a search warrant issued by a court to allow law enforcement to search a database to find all active mobile devices within a particular geo-fence area.
Geo-fence warrants were first used in 2016. Google reported that it had received 982 such warrants in 2018, 8,396 in 2019, and 11,554 in 2020. A 2021 transparency report showed that 25% of data requests from law enforcement to Google were geo-fence data requests.
Google is the most common recipient of geo-fence warrants and the main provider of such data, although companies including Apple, Snapchat, Lyft, and Uber have also received such warrants.
With geofence warrants we shall identify the criminals in our forests and in other hard to reach areas without a boot on the ground.
We can track phones of kidnappers, know their locations and every gadget the kidnappers phone is calling and interacting with. And follow criminals in real time.
Any criminal with a phone or gadget that interacts with Internet will simply be hiding in plane sight. An even when he is using an unregistered phone, Google will also pick his registered but in active phone lines.
Because phones are linked with National Identity Numbers and connected with banks, the government and mobile service providers will obtain the details of identified criminals, including photos in a matter of seconds.
Suspect’s bank account can be frozen, and ATM blocked in real time. And even his next of kins known.
Suspects will simply get a text to show up at police or crime center where criminals are separated from witnesses. It is easy because the witnesses will identify the perpetrators. Those who fail to show up will be declared wanted and their names and photos published.
Every year, in increasing numbers, law enforcement officers are turning to Google geofence warrant to help them investigate crimes and gather evidence.
The warrants force Google to provide identifying information on all gadgets inside a specific area during a given time—potentially implicating anyone who was in the area of a crime, not just the suspects.
It is a sweeping dragnet.
In a recent notable case, police used Google geofence to identify participants in the mob that stormed US Senate, Capitol Hill, on January 6, 2020.
While Google receives over 10,000 geofence warrants for location data in the US a year, those covering the Capitol breach appear to have been particularly productive, apparently enabling the FBI to build a large, searchable database in its hunt for the rioters
Over 600 people were arrested, and at least 185 charged, in connection with the Capitol breach.
Sentencing is currently ongoing.
Our challenge will be updating our laws to safe guard privacy and prevent political victimisation. We don’t want protesters or groups at risk such as political opponents targeted.
- Upgrade our laws to provide adequate safeguards and comply with Google and global standards.
- Train our law enforcement officers on how to request information from Google to gain critical evidence for their cases.
- Teach them how to write a geofence warrant as incorrectly written warrants can lead to judicial rejections. Anyone appearing in several crime scenes may not be coincidence!
Google operates an LERS (Law Enforcement Response System) a dedicated system to facilitate requests concerning law enforcement procedures. It is available worldwide.
The cost of implementing this program is ridiculously cheap and the process, super efficient. All that a law enforcement officer needs to do his job are a desktop or a laptop with Microsoft Excel installed, Google Earth Pro (free) installed, and familiarity with Excel program.
A typical course covers the following: Google geolocation fundamentals how to write and transmit a geofence warrant, how to analyze the data received from google, how to identify a suspect and cross-match multiple crime scenes.
The cost for acquiring this basic knowledge ranges from $99 – $250. There are advanced courses for cyber security experts that cost much more.
Government can procure these directly from Google Support and other training providers.
Officers however must understand legal requirements before starting the process of obtaining a geofence warrant. This is crucial as they will be required to establish probable cause and demonstrate that the sought-after information is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Additionally, they must provide a detailed description of the target area and the specific time frame for which they require the data. A solid grasp of these prerequisites ensures that the warrant request is legally sound and stands a chance of being approved.
Drafting a sound geofence warrant is essential to the success of the process. The document should constitute a clear statement of purpose, the reasons for the request, the legal basis for obtaining the data, and a detailed description of the target area and time frame. It is essential to ensure that the warrant complies with known laws governing data privacy and search warrants, as non-compliance may lead to the warrant being denied or the evidence being deemed inadmissible in court.
Technology can help us cut drastically the cost of securing our homeland and stop the proliferation of arms. Money saved will go to education, health and other priority areas.
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