Friday 30 September 2016

HISTORICAL CELL SITE LOCATION INFORMATION AND TELCOS IN NIGERIA


According to Wikipedia.com, a telco i.e. telephone company, telephone service provider or telecommunications operator:
is a kind of communications service provider (CSP) (more precisely a telecommunications service provider or TSP) that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access…With the advent of mobile telephony, telephone companies now include wireless carriers, or mobile network operators. Most telephone companies now also function as internet service providers (ISPs), and the distinction between a telephone company and an ISP may disappear completely over time, as the current trend for supplier convergence in the industry continues.

Historical cell site location information or mobile/cell phone location data is a collection of past connections between a mobile phone and cell towers or telecommunications masts. A cell site is mobile phone base station or antenna where radio signals are sent and received. In  the United States case of State v. Earls, it was stated that “Cell or (mobile) phones register or identify themselves with nearby cell towers every seven seconds. Cell providers (like MTN, Glo, Etisalat and Airtel in Nigeria) collect data from those contacts, which allow carriers to locate cell phones on a real-time basis and to reconstruct a phone’s movement from recorded data.”

Most times when you call the call centre of your GSM network provider or telco in Nigeria such MTN, Glo, Etisalat or Airtel, to make a complaint or inquiry, the customer care representative will ask you what town or city and local government you are calling from. I am usually taken aback by this question because they (telcos) already know or at least can approximate my location so why bother to ask me.

Whenever a mobile telephone makes a call, the call is routed through a cell site located at a fixed geographic location. Mobile telephone companies keep records of which cell site processes a call, and through this information law enforcement agents can locate the position of the SIM card, and therefore infer the location of the telephone user. This was used by the Nigerian Police to obtain the location of Timothy Dung, an armed robbery suspect in the case of The State v. Timothy Dung. On page three of the judgement it was stated thus:
According to the PW2 on the 20/8/2010 a case of armed robbery was transferred from the ‘E’ Division Police Station to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID). PW1 volunteered a statement before the police.
According to the PW2 they swung into action by applying their detective mechanism to arrest the person because the line snatched was still going. Police applied to court to obtain a court order to serve Airtel/Zain who was the service provider of the line (Zain) snatched from the PW1. Airtel/Zain complied with the court order and released the coordinate to the Police. The coordinate enabled the Police to set a security trapping system that showed them the exact direction and position where the accused (that) was using that particular line at that time was standing. The system gave the latitude and longitude on google earth. lt shows(sic) that the accused person who was with the stolen line was at Abuja and the call history of the line after the robbery was within Abuja town and a town in Plateau State.  However, about three' days back, the line was showing that it, was in Abuja. The Police went to Abuja and the system directed them to Federal Fire Service in Abuja town and they went there. When the PW2 and his team called the number/line, it rang and the accused received the call. The PW2 then arrested the accused and interviewed him.
The case of United States v. Allums, also shows that telcos know or can estimate the location of their subscribers or customers at any given time using historical cell site location information (CSLI) or cell site analysis. James Edward Allums on 30th November, 2007, robbed a bank in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. A bank employee dropped a chair from the second floor balcony onto Allums’ head as he stood brandishing a knife at a teller on the first floor.  In anger Allums removed his ski mask to look up and curse at the chair-dropper and in the process glowered directly into the surveillance camera. Allums had a mobile phone on him on 30th November.

Prosecutors introduced evidence that cell site tracking records showed that Allums’ phone, and presumably Allums, was located in close proximity to the bank and to two other locations also robbed by Allums. Thus, Allums was convicted on three counts of armed robbery.

Apart from historical CSLI mobile phone location can also be determined through GPS and mobile phone triangulation. At this juncture it is appropriate to state how mobile phone communications work as captured or explained in Re: Application for Telephone Information Needed for a Criminal Investigation:
Cell (mobile) phones operate through the use of radio waves.  To facilitate cell phone use, cellular service providers maintain a network of radio base stations—also known as cell towers (popularly referred to in Nigeria as mast)—throughout their coverage areas.
Whenever a cell phone makes or receives a call, sends or receives a text message, or otherwise sends or receives data, the phone connects via radio waves to an antenna on the closest cell tower, generating cell site location information (CSLI).  The resulting CSLI includes the precise location of the cell tower and cell site serving the subject cell phone during each voice call, text message, or data connection.  If a cell phone moves away from the cell tower with which it started a call and closer to another cell tower, the phone connects seamlessly to that next tower.
CSLI may be generated in the absence of user interaction with the cell phone. For example, CSLI may still be generated during an incoming phone call that is not answered.  Additionally, most modern smartphones have applications that continually run in the background, sending and receiving data without a user having to interact with the cell phone.
Indeed, cell phones, when turned on and not in airplane mode, are always scanning their network’s cellular environment. In so doing, cell phones periodically identify themselves to the closest cell tower—i.e., the one with the strongest radio signal—as they move throughout their network’s coverage area.  This process, known as “registration” or “pinging,” facilitates the making and receiving of calls, the sending and receiving of text messages, and the sending and receiving of cell phone data. Pinging is automatic and occurs whenever the phone is on, without the user’s input or control. A cell phone that is switched on will ping the nearest tower every seven to nine minutes. (Emphasis mine)
From the above it is crystal clear that CSLI can be used to estimate the location of an individual by identifying the nearest cell tower or mast and sector used when a call is made. It therefore presents circumstantial evidence of a person’s location.  This ability to locate a cell phone presents obvious benefits to law enforcement and intelligence authorities  as seen in the two cases referred to above. CSLI also poses a significant threat to privacy. Thus in State v. Earls (supra) the court observed that:
Advances in technology offer great benefits to society in many areas. At the same time, they can pose significant risks to individual privacy rights. This case highlights both principles as we consider recent strides in cell-phone technology. New improvements not only expand our ability to communicate with one another and access the Internet, but the cell phones we carry can also serve as powerful tracking devices able to pinpoint our movements with remarkable precision and accuracy.

Tuesday 20 September 2016

ATM DISPENSE ERROR: FCMB DENIES LIABILITY ON THE GROUND THAT ATM USED DOESN'T BELONG TO THEM

It would be recalled that FCMB Ltd and UBA Plc were sued in May, 2016 by Barrister Timothy Tion; customer of FCMB Ltd, over non-dispense of cash when he attempted to withdraw money at the ATM of UBA Plc in February, 2016.

The defendant banks have filed processes in response to the suit by Barrister Tion. Both defendants filed an application for extension of time to enable them file their memoranda of appearance and statements of defence out of time. The 1st defendant (FCMB Ltd) also filed a preliminary objection (P.O.) urging the court to strike off its name from the case as the plaintiff has not disclosed any cause of action against her on the ground that the ATM where the disputed transaction occurred belongs to UBA Plc and not FCMB Ltd. Specifically, the 1st defendant in her P.O. contends:
1.That  the  transaction  that  gave  rise  to  this  suit  took  place  at  the ATM  Stand  of  the  2nd  defendant  and  not  the  1st  defendant’s  as clearly  stated  in  paragraph  5  of  the  statement  of  claim.
2.  That  the  1st  defendant  has  its  ATM Stand  for  the  use  of  its  various customers  including  the  plaintiff  and  the  plaintiff  wilfully  decided  to  use  the  2nd  defendant’s  ATM.
3.  That  the  report  from  the  2nd defendant  showed  that  the  2nd defendant’s  ATM  paid the plaintiff the  said  N8,000  and the  1st defendant  passed  same  information  to  the plaintiff.
4.  That  there  is  no  paragraph  of  the  statement  of  claim  that  disclosed a cause  of  action  against  the  1st defendant  in  this  suit.  This  can  be clearly shown from Paragraphs  5  to  46  of  the  statement  of  claim particularly  paragraphs  30  and  32  of  it.

The plaintiff has filed a reply in response to the P.O. filed by 1st defendant and the 1st defendant has also filed a reply on points of law to the plaintiff’s reply.


Hearing of the applications and the P.O filed will take place on the 27th September, 2016.

This case appears to be a test case with regards to ATM transactions or electronic banking in general in Nigeria as it deals with a novel situation which appears not to have been dealt with in other cases of disputed transactions by the courts in Nigeria.

Whereas, other cases of disputed ATM transactions decided by the courts in Nigeria, namely; UBA Plc v Yahuza (2014) LPELR-23976 (CA), Archibong v First Bank of Nigeria Plc (2014) LPELR-22649(CA), Benjamin Agi v. Access Bank Plc (2014) 7 BNLR 23 CA, Victor Ejeh v UBA Plc (unreported) Suit No MHC/323/2010, judgment delivered on 3rd of February, 2012 by Igoche, J. at the High Court of Justice of Benue State of Nigeria, Barrister Geoffrey Amano v UBA Plc (Suit No PHC/257/2011), judgment delivered on 22nd April, 2013 by Georgewill, J. at the High Court of Justice of Rivers State of Nigeria, and Joseph v Unity Bank Plc (unreported) Suit No MHC/412/2013, judgment delivered on 22nd of December, 2015 by Kakaan, A. at the High Court of Justice of Benue State of Nigeria, involved unauthorized withdrawals which the plaintiff customers only became aware when they attempted to make withdrawals, the case of Barrister Tion and that of Kume Bridget Ashiemar v GTB Plc & UBA Plc, Suit No: MHC/198/14, currently being tried before High Court No. 7 of the High Court of Justice of Benue State, involves non-dispense of cash by the ATM.  

In unauthorized withdrawals the customer goes to the bank or ATM to make withdrawals and then learns that certain amount has been debited from his account or he is in possession of his ATM card and suddenly receives debit alerts on his account while in non-dispense of cash, the customer has sufficient funds in his account, attempts to make a withdrawal and the ATM does not dispense cash but his account is debited.

In Barrister Tion's case the court will also have to decide on the very important issues as to whether there is any law, rule or regulation in Nigeria which prohibits a customer of a particular bank from using the bank’s ATM card to withdraw money or perform ATM transactions at another bank’s ATM and  whether if a customer of a bank uses the ATM card issued to him by his bank to withdraw money on the ATM belonging to another bank and the ATM fails to dispense money because of ATM dispense error, yet the customer’s account is debited, which of the banks should be held liable or are both banks to be jointly held liable?

For all the updates involving these two very important and epoch making cases i.e. the case  of Barrister Tion and the case of Kume Bridget Ashiermar, keep a date with this blog.