Scandal

NotW Paid Police for Antiterror Tools: Report

Phone tracking tech usually used in extreme cases.

Two former News of the World reporters tell The New York Times that the paper bribed police officers to use cell-phone tracking technology that is usually reserved for antiterror and other high-profile investigations. The technique, known as “pinging,” locates an individual by checking his or her cell-phone’s signal strength against three different towers. In normal investigations, the method requires case-by-case authorization. Sean Hoare, a former News of the World business reporter, says “pinging” cost $500 a pop. He says a news editor, Greg Miskiw, first taught him about the technique, claiming to have brought Miskiw a subject’s phone number and received, in return, the subject’s precise location.