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The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Chicago Police Department is fighting a lawsuit to force them to reveal how they use Stingray cell tower-emulating devices:
Since 2005, the department has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on cell-site simulators manufactured by the Harris Corp. in Melbourne, Florida, records show. The devices — with names like StingRay and KingFish — capture cellphone signals.
Cops can use the technology, originally developed for the military, to locate cellphones. Police agencies in other states have revealed in court that StingRays and similar devices have been used to locate suspects, fugitives and victims in criminal investigations.
But privacy activists across the country have begun to question whether law enforcement agencies have used the devices to track people involved in demonstrations in violation of their constitutional rights. They also have concerns the technology scoops up the phone data of innocent citizens and police targets alike.
The Chicago Police Department has also been running a CIA-style black site, according to a recent report by the Guardian.
When the federal government began imprisoning people at Guantanamo in violation of the Constitution, some argued it was the only place, and that there were exceptional, extenuating circumstances. When the network of CIA black sites around the world and its practice of "extraordinary rendition," known to normal people as, "kidnapping," were revealed, some argued it was only for terrorists and other bad guys. When the NSA's mass violations of the Constitution were revealed by the Snowden leaks, some argued that it was for our own protection. Each time, they were justified as defense against the "Other."
Is this Chicago case a harbinger of things to come, that those tools and practices developed to violate the rights of the "Other" elsewhere, are now being applied to "Us", here?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Tuesday March 24 2015, @11:59PM
How these devices are designed ought to be quite obvious?
And their location should be quite straightforward to locate? they kind of advertise their localization with RF signals.
(Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Wednesday March 25 2015, @05:02AM
They aren't that big, and not many people walk around with a RDF in their pocket. They are mobile, can be there one minute and gone the next.
They don't have a big giant antenna. They tend to be used to find someone the police already know about, but because they disrupt phone calls of everybody in range, the tend to use them sparingly, just long enough to confirm their target is in the area.
Recently in Vegas, my phone went totally bonkers, and I couldn't get a signal with three cell towers in clear line of sight, one second, the next second I had full bars. Everybody near by had the same problem, and laughed it off as typical Vegas Police activity. Data connection was out of the question, and calls all failed. I was miles from any big crowd. There was no obvious police activity. I've had this happen in down town Seattle as well, but that time I knew Obama was driving to a speaking engagement (inconveniencing an entire city to enrich his party). I have no idea if a Stingray was in use or just some kid with a jammer.
You could be standing 10 feet from one and not notice it. Not that easy to find. There's an App for that. [vice.com] There are also people who make a project of finding them [computerworld.com]. (And yeah they did find one in Vegas).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Ox0000 on Wednesday March 25 2015, @01:05PM
Everybody near by had the same problem, and laughed it off as typical Vegas Police activity.
Laughed it off??? Wow, talk about cynicism... When people joke about their rights being trampled, you know it's bad... (I'm not taking a jab at you frojack)
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday March 25 2015, @04:54PM
Yeah, I was pretty much gob smacked too.
That being said, most of the people there were out of towners, and alcohol was flowing.
Like I say, I have no real clue what it was, it could have been just a tower crash or something, dumping us all onto a tower much farther away. Being my naturally suspicious self I assumed the worst.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.