from the the-surveillance-that-never-sleeps dept.
Shaun Nichols over at The Register (El Reg) is reporting on a New York Civil Liberties Union report (NYCLU) detailing New York City Police Department (NYPD) use of IMSI catchers.
According to the NYCLU's report, the NYPD has used IMSI catchers (essentially mobile cell towers powerful enough to induce all nearby cellular devices to connect to them, rather than commercial cell towers) more than 1,000 times in the past seven years.
From the El Reg article:
According to the NYCLU report, between 2008 and May of 2015 police used stingray hardware 1,016 times, and that permission to deploy the devices required a court order rather than a harder-to-obtain warrant.
The use of stingray devices by police has become a point of contention between law enforcement and groups who see the devices as a violation of personal privacy. Long used by the FBI, stingray devices impersonate legit cellphone towers to monitor nearby mobile phones and track their movements.
[...] "If carrying a cell phone means being exposed to military-grade surveillance equipment, then the privacy of nearly all New Yorkers is at risk," said NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman.
"Considering the NYPD's troubling history of surveilling innocent people, it must at the very least establish strict privacy policies and obtain warrants prior to using intrusive equipment like Stingrays that can track people's cell phones."
This kind of gives a little more zing to the old saw "Welcome to New York. Now go home."
Related Stories
In a letter to Senator Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that unknown users are operating IMSI catchers in Washington, D.C.:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is acknowledging for the first time that foreign actors or criminals are using eavesdropping devices to track cellphone activity in Washington, D.C., according to a letter obtained by The Hill.
DHS in a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) last Monday said they came across unauthorized cell-site simulators in the Washington, D.C., area last year. Such devices, also known as "stingrays," can track a user's location data through their mobile phones and can intercept cellphone calls and messages.
[...] DHS official Christopher Krebs, the top official leading the NPPD, added in a separate letter accompanying his response that such use "of IMSI catchers by malicious actors to track and monitor cellular users is unlawful and threatens the security of communications, resulting in safety, economic and privacy risks."
DHS said they have not determined the users behind such eavesdropping devices, nor the type of devices being used. The agency also did not elaborate on how many devices it unearthed, nor where authorities located them.
Also at Ars Technica and CNN.
Related: Police: Stingray Device Intercepts Mobile Phones
ACLU Reveals Greater Extent of FBI and Law Enforcement "Stingray" Use
US IRS Bought Stingray, Stingray II, and Hailstorm IMSI-Catchers
EFF Launches the Cell-Site Simulator Section of Street Level Surveillance
NYPD Making Heavy Use of Stingrays
New York Lawmakers Want Local Cops to Get Warrant Before Using Stingray
New Jersey State Police Spent $850,000 on Harris Corp. Stingray Devices
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday February 13 2016, @12:55AM
Giuliani turned the once-awesome New York City into an unlivable police-state.
DO Something about it, you useful idiots!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2016, @01:00AM
Don't blame me. I voted for the other guy. Twice.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 13 2016, @01:51AM
New York City in 1988 (when I lived there) was a toilet, a dangerous toilet.
Not saying it is a paradise now, but it does smell better and I fear much less for my life and property when I walk the streets.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2016, @03:00AM
be black then.
Or have ever been SWATed either.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2016, @08:00AM
A better smelling toilet now, right?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 13 2016, @03:34PM
No, I agree with the GP. New York is a much better city now. In the late 80's it was a hell-hole. Now it's quite nice, and getting better. As to its being a toilet, that really only obtains around places like the Port Authority, where buses bring questionable people in from the Mid-West, or, *shudder*, New Jersey. Those people are not house-broken and piss and shit on everything while drunk. The city beyond that handful of locations is fine.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2016, @01:52AM
Thats it police. You are a bunch of tools who forgot to 'protect and serve' and just decided to go on a power trip. Respect gone.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 13 2016, @02:37AM
If people didn't revolt over Stop and Frisk, no one is going to give a damn about surveillance.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Saturday February 13 2016, @08:13AM
I think they toned the program down [theonion.com] a little after some of the outrage.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday February 13 2016, @04:32AM
You have to wonder why they deploy them so often.
Unless they are looking for specific phone numbers and passing all the others off to legitimate cell towers the simple density of cell phones in NYC is so large that they would drown in all the data they could collect just about anywhere in the city.
I have to believe there is a mode that Stingrays can be set to operate in where in it looks only for specific phone numbers or sim cards, and just refuses connections to all the others.
In any event, I've been thinking its time to get ahold of our police. There is absolutely no reason a municipal police police should hold ANY secret means, methods, tools, or weapons.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Saturday February 13 2016, @03:37PM
I agree with you. I'm still waiting for Rahm Emmanuel to be dragged to the guillotine for running a black site [theguardian.com] in Chicago. Sadly, think it's going to be a long time since American zeal for freedom has run out.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday February 13 2016, @07:08AM
Maybe if they had stingrays, wait for it! with fricking laser beams on their heads! I mean, this is the goddamed NYPD, more resources than Dr. Evil could ever dream of! And all for the greater glory of the Bloomberg! All hail Bloomberg! Down with Trump! New York Rules! Or Rules of New York! My god, this comment has slid right off the rails. My apologies to all.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 13 2016, @10:48PM
The Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. How is this stingray business anything other than wholesale and bulk violation of Constitutional rights?
Answer? Crickets? Nobody can counter this post. Go ahead and try. Explain how this is not a rights violation.