I-TEAM | Price of Privacy: The dark side of data
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s never been easier to keep up with family and friends with apps like Find My Friends and Life 360.
GPS tracking services, like OnStar, can also make a difference in life-or-death situations when every minute counts. Location data can also help in criminal prosecutions, like Alex Murdaugh.
But peace of mind comes with a potential price tag: privacy. Our I-TEAM uncovers the dark side of data.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. In other words, intrusion by the government.
This is why law enforcement has to get a warrant or court order before they can search your home or install a tracking device on a car.
But today, most vehicles come with built-in GPS and many carry trackers, better known as cell phones.
The Supreme Court hasn’t yet required law enforcement to obtain a warrant to access real-time location data from our cars and cell phones, which the I-TEAM found they can sometimes access with just a call.
An investigator goes missing a day after his fellow investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at his home.
Dispatcher: “A Brian Manecke. He’s driving a white Chevy Silverado, Georgia plates.”
The search warrant alleges Brian Manecke, a child sex crime investigator, posted a photo of two girls on a pedophile-friendly Facebook page under an alias name.
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Dispatcher 1: “His phone is pinging in the Hickory Knob area.”
Dispatcher 2: “Okay.”
Dispatcher 1: “And he was supposed to show up for work today, but he hasn’t shown up no call no show. He’s under investigation so.”
The same investigator who executed the search warrant called McCormick County 911 for help locating Manecke.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office pinged Manecke’s personal cell phone in the Hickory Knob area of McCormick County, S.C. They gave dispatch a description of his vehicle, which was his personal truck, a white Silverado, equipped with OnStar.
McCormick County Dispatcher: “Hi Amy. My name is (beep). This is Delta 7 with McCormick County 911 Center. I am trying to find out if we can get a track on a vehicle for a deputy who has gone missing in our county.”
OnStar Operator: “Okay, I am sorry to hear that. I can see what we can do to help.”
The dispatcher does not tell OnStar the missing investigator is under investigation himself.
OnStar’s policy requires a warrant or court order unless a person is missing and in danger.
OnStar Operator: “Did you say you had a missing person case?”
McCormick County Dispatcher: “Yes.”
OnStar Operator: “A file number, sorry, a file number.”
McCormick County Dispatcher: “Yes. Give me one second. It’s 2023-9836.”
But when the I-TEAM asked for the missing person’s report, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office told us there wasn’t one.
McCormick County dispatch told us the missing person report number they gave OnStar was a number they generated at the 911 center.
OnStar Operator: “If the vehicle moves, we call and notify dispatch.”
McCormick County Dispatcher: “Okay.”
OnStar Operator: “We can also put an ignition block on the vehicle if needed.”
McCormick County Dispatcher: “Alright. I see him on the map now. Thank you so much.”
Lincoln County deputies follow Manecke’s truck down a dirt road after he crosses into Georgia.
The deputies would later tell a Georgia Bureau of Investigation, GBI, agent what happened next.
Lieutenant Phillip Morris with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office: “When he parked, we saw him get out to stand by his truck for a few seconds when I’m sure he noticed us so when Jim and I went to go approach.”
Major Jim Wallen with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office: “That’s when we pulled long guns out and took a position to observe. It probably wasn’t even a minute and I heard a pop.”
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GBI: “After the pop, what did you do?”
Morris: “Took a defensive position at my vehicle.”
Morris: “I stayed at my vehicle until Jim was able to get up to see he was deceased then he motioned a thumbs down saying it was done.”
The GBI’s case file would later show they did not find anything that would give off a ping in Manecke’s truck.
Wallen: “I don’t think they found a cell phone in the truck.”
GBI: “Oh, okay.”
Wallen: “They want that phone because I guess it’s got some of the other stuff on it.”
Most federal agencies have policies requiring a warrant before they track someone without their knowledge.
South Carolina introduced a bill that would make it illegal, but the bill has been sitting on a committee for more than a year now.
The I-TEAM did not find anything on the books for Georgia.
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