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Bipartisan Bill Would Force Police to Get Warrants Before Using Stingray Cell Tracker

posted by janrinok on Tuesday February 21 2017, @12:19AM   Printer-friendly
from the that's-the-theory dept.

Fnord666 writes:

A rare alliance of Democratic and Republican members of the US Congress could lead to increased restrictions on how police officers can deploy so-called Stingray cell phone trackers. These devices are regularly used to investigate suspected criminals, but the nature of the system means a lot of innocent Americans are caught up in the dragnet. This bill would force police to get warrants before using Stingrays.

The legislation was introduced Wednesday, and is called the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act. Congress does love its clever acronyms. The bill was sponsored by unlikely allies Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich). That means essentially the same bill exists in the House and Senate, which both need to pass the legislation before it can become a law.

[...] Police have long maintained that the use of Stingrays does not constitute a "search," and as such does not require a warrant. The GPS bill seeks to force warrants before a Stingray could be used. That wouldn't stop Stingrays from being used in the US, of course. However, it would vastly reduce the frequency.

[...] If the bill is passed by Congress, it's up to President Trump to sign it. If law enforcement groups oppose it, he may decline to do so.

Source:

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/244621-bipartisan-bill-force-police-get-warrants-using-stingray-cell-tracker

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday February 21 2017, @03:20AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Tuesday February 21 2017, @03:20AM (#469553) Homepage

    Sounds just like your typical NPR story:

    " Around the country, Chrysler dealers were waiting today for just one guy to walk onto the lot -- the UPS man. UPS delivered special letters from Chrysler headquarters this morning, telling dealers whether or not they would survive. One quarter of them got bad news. Chrysler plans to shut those franchises as part of its restructuring and bankruptcy court and it's all Donald Trump's fault because he rapes women, kicks puppies, beat up his own grandma when he was 9, and is a serial sexual assaulter of women as well as some barnyard animals. Did we mention that he's also a racist? NPR’s Martin Kaste has details. "

    I like Soylent News, but I don't listen to NPR anymore. I find sports radio to be a far less boorish and ham-handed listen on the way to and from work every morning now.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by linuxrocks123 on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:20AM

    by linuxrocks123 (2557) on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:20AM (#469630) Journal

    You should listen to the music channels. Find one that plays a lot of smooth jazz and other calming music. It would be good for you.

    ;)