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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: 4, Insightful) by jmorris on Wednesday March 25 2015, @02:57AM
I have a more fundamental question about the Stingray's use. Ok, I understand why spies would use it abroad. Perfectly fine with that even, spies gotta spy and all that. And I can even see a few cases where they might use one here in the U.S. for spying. Some spying is really dark and secret and I'm enough of an adult to even accept it in some cases. Ok, all that out of the way. Just saying I understand why somebody built one in the first place, there was a real use case. Now somebody explain what in the bloody Hell a police dept would use one for? Anyone?
If they use one on targets without a warrant the case is going right into the toilet. If recent history is a guide, if the defense even gets wind one -might- have been used and starts throwing paper the pattern seems to be to drop the case to avoid the possibility of being forced to talk about it.
If they can get a warrant they can just force the carrier to give up not only the call details but the minute by minute location track that is almost certain to cover more area than what they can have Stingrays deployed into. And they can even get that level of detail backward in time if they can get a judge to sign off. They can also have the content of the calls/texts/network traffic delivered right to the stationhouse in realtime if they have a warrant, no mucking about tailing people with a Stingray or that old cop show foolishness of non-descript panel vans parked down the street from the suspect. Clean, undetectable, and unavoidable.
So again. They are buying the boxes and using them for something but it ain't law enforcement as such. So what are they buying for their bucks? What is the pitch the sales weasel makes at the convention booth? Do they even buy booth space at LEO trade shows? Can somebody throw a scan of their brochure up somewhere? This whole deal just has a wrongness to it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ox0000 on Wednesday March 25 2015, @01:09PM
I think this ought to be a fairly binary case:
Do you have a warrant? Then you don't need a stingray!
Do you not have a warrant? Then you have no business doing that shit!
Here's a handy question for all police departments thinking about acquiring stingrays to ask themselves with the answer filled in: "Do think you need or want a StingRay device? If the answer is 'yes' then you are not allowed to get one!" (with regards to the late mr. Carlin)
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 25 2015, @07:18PM
Parallel Construction. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2015, @09:59PM
They can also have the content of the calls/texts/network traffic delivered right to the stationhouse in realtime if they have a warrant, no mucking about tailing people with a Stingray or that old cop show foolishness of non-descript panel vans parked down the street from the suspect. Clean, undetectable, and unavoidable.
Citation needed, aside from watching too much Law & Order SVU?