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posted by janrinok on Sunday September 04 2016, @10:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the do-you-know-who's-listening? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

A confidential, 120-page catalogue of spy equipment, originating from British defense firm Cobham and circulated to U.S. law enforcement, touts gear that can intercept wireless calls and text messages, locate people via their mobile phones, and jam cellular communications in a particular area.

The catalogue was obtained by The Intercept as part of a large trove of documents originating within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where spokesperson Molly Best confirmed Cobham wares have been purchased but did not provide further information. The document provides a rare look at the wide range of electronic surveillance tactics used by police and militaries in the U.S. and abroad, offering equipment ranging from black boxes that can monitor an entire town's cellular signals to microphones hidden in lighters and cameras hidden in trashcans. Markings date it to 2014.

[...] "By design, these devices are indiscriminate and operate across a wide area where many people may be present," said Richard Tynan, a technologist at Privacy International, of the gear in the Cobham catalogue. Such "indiscriminate surveillance systems that are not targeted in any way based on prior suspicion" are "the essence of mass surveillance," he added.

Source: https://theintercept.com/2016/09/01/leaked-catalogue-reveals-a-vast-array-of-military-spy-gear-offered-to-u-s-police/


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday September 04 2016, @11:20PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Sunday September 04 2016, @11:20PM (#397562)

    Wow, your political bias is showing A/C.

    multiple private security companies that served as checks against government monopoly of force

    That's not what they were for, they were the tools of the wealthy, and used to brutalise striking workers, see the Homestead strike [wikipedia.org]

    They were very powerful because of their national presence...

    No, they were very powerful because of the money wealthy employers paid them to recruit thugs to murder striking workers. [wikipedia.org]

    Of course you might be happier with private industry murdering American workers, because I'm sure they would be more efficient than the government wouldn't they?

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