Do you think they might be able to offer any insight on how to resolve this before Friday?

But really, this seems to be a breakdown on the police side more than the T-Mobile side. T-Mobile is doing their part to protect themselves, as well as their customers by not releasing privileged information to anyone who calls up with an interesting story and asks for it. We know your story about the death threat is true… but how would they know that?

Their request is simple, they need a court order… police get court orders every day as a part of their normal investigations. Why should this case be any different for them?

A court order gives T-Mobile the document they need that this is a true legal request and the will work in cooperation with law enforcement.

For example… what if the person who made the death threat called up T-Mobile, told them a story that your mom threatened them, and that they wanted her home address so they could give it to the police. What if T-Mobile turned over that information to them without a court order? Not good… obviously. No difference here… just work with the police and make them make it happen.

Best of luck with it, I’d just keep pushing the police with the question, “How do I get a court order?” and request their protection on Friday all day.

–Dan Dawson

Now, having worked in this particular field for some time, I might offer a few nuggets:

- It is indeed the responsibility of the police to obtain a warrant. Given a warrant, T-Mobile will immediately provide the information that the police want and need.

- In order for the police the obtain a warrant, your mother would need to file a formal complaint (which can be done in minutes, over the phone if need be).

- Assuming that your mother has a complaint number, she should pressure the police to follow through and ensure that a warrant is obtained and that the information they need is handed over in a timely fashion.

- Your mother should not need to hire a lawyer.

T-Mobile has a legal responsibility to their customers and, ludicrous as it seems, they’re probably doing the right thing.

SCENARIO: You call to sell me magazines. I call T-Mobile unauthenticated (they have no way of concretely identifying callers are law enforcement–a court order, on the other hand, can be authenticated), tell them I’m the police, and obtain your address. I fill your car with old magazines and set it on fire.

This type of scenario presents a problem for both the provider (T-Mobile) and the customer (you). And if the provider’s disclosure resulted in your car being burned, your house being broken into, or you being assaulted, you’d likely take a different tone on the matter.

When you’re on the receiving end of something like this, emotions run high. Just keep in mind that the police are there to protect you, and that you are within your rights to immediately escalate your issue within the department if you’re not being served.

Again, hope that all is well now and in the future.

Hopefully this will turn out to be nothing, and a dialing error by the jerk that placed the call in the first place. It still doesn’t excuse his actions, nor T-Mobile’s lack of support in the situation. If she didn’t already, I would consider visiting the Police station and speaking with someone who might be a bit more knowledgeable in the process and could help out (a detective perhaps?). Sometimes the right person with the right information might be able to get a bit further in cases like this.

Either way, good luck.