NBC 4 - News - Sprint Refuses To Reveal Location Of Cell Phone In Carjacked SUV

Well, I have to have somethingto do while I sit here and count down the minutes to my OB appointment. So of course I am wasting time uselessly surfing the net. That and listening to the Little Miss in her crib discussing with Elmo who gets to hold the binky. But that's a story for another day.

I came across this story: NBC 4 - News - Sprint Refuses To Reveal Location Of Cell Phone In Carjacked SUV. Basically, Dad straps the 10 month old into the carseat and then goes back inside for the toddler, at which time someone steals the car with baby inside. Now, one assumes that he either left the car running or left the keys in it. In California. I don't know. My first reading of it, I was shocked that Sprint would not immediately hand over this information to such obviously distressed parents. But on second thought....

The thing that stands out to me is that the Sprint representative on the other end of the phone had no way of knowing exactly who these people were that he was talking to. How easy would it be for me to fane distess, get someone else to pose as a police office, and then call up Sprint to have them locate some guy I've been crazily stalking the last 2 months by telling them that he has my phone and my child?

I usually don't have much sympathy for people who do seemingly stupid things. But in this case, I think I have to side with the poor Sprint guy on the other end who had to make a judgement call. I can imagine if I had been in his/her position, I'd be sleeping a little less soundly these days, thinking what might have happened to the child in the car because I made a bad judgement. But on the other hand, what if it was some crazy going to kill someone else.

Technology has such a wealth of good uses. But for everyone who wants to do something good with it, there is probably someone else who wants to do something very bad with it.