Needless to say, the big news these days is that the US government has been spying on its citizens, foreign agencies and ambassadors for a long time. Well this is no big news actually, a lot of governments are doing this without our notice.
But why? When you call somebody, you usually pick up your handset, dial a number and you are connected to the person. Then you talk and hang up. You do not notice anything unusual, nor the carrier does. In fact, if someone install some kind of spy software on your phone, you may not be aware too.
However it's highly unlikely that the government installs some mobile spy app on your handset, until you are a suspects and deserves the attention. Otherwise no government can bear the cost.
So all the government has too do is attach some device like IMEI catcher (source) near the base station / cell tower. It's better, however if you can do it in the carrier's data center which is possible according to the information leaked.
Now it's easier for the government to track anyone as it wish. As to us, nothing is safe, cell phone, Email, social networking. Nothing!!
