The 5,723 Cellular Devices That Were in the Capitol According to Google

A filing in the case of Jan. 6 defendant David Rhine shows that Google initially identified 5,723 cellular devices as being in or near the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6 event, according to Wired.com. However, just 900 people have so far been charged with offenses in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 event. The warrants are issued by a court to allow law enforcement to search a database to find active mobile devices within a particular area. The Big Tech firm is served about 10,000 geofence warrants in the U.S. each year, Wired also reports.

For years now, there has been a lot of talk about big tech companies having too much power and control over our lives. With this recent development, it is hard to deny that these companies do hold a lot of power. Not only can they see what we are doing online but they can also see where we are physically located at any given time. While this information can be used for good, it can also be used for bad, as we have seen in this case. As more and more information about our daily lives is shared with these big tech companies, it is important that we have a conversation about privacy and data protection.

Over 5,000 people had their cell phones near the Capitol during the riot on January 6th according to Google records. Currently, only 900 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 event. This raises questions about how much power big tech companies have over our lives and whether or not our privacy is truly protected and where is this headed. It might be time to get rid of Google from your life.