The acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says that the agency does not use cell-site simulators, aka IMSI-catchers or "StingRays", to locate undocumented immigrants:
The acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency charged with deportations, has confirmed in a new letter that it does not use cell-site simulators, also known as stingrays, to locate undocumented immigrants. In the August 16 letter, which was sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), acting Director Thomas Homan wrote that, since October 2015, ICE has followed similar guidelines put in place by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security a month earlier, which require a warrant before deploying a stingray.
[...] The Homan letter makes a point though to say that "interference with non-targeted mobile devices is virtually nonexistent."
As he continued:
The mobile identifier of non-targeted mobile handsets is verified by the cell-site simulators automatically as a non-target and sent back to the best mobile network. This process is conducted in an amount of time that is not noticeable to the user. If a call is placed or received during the exact instant the verification is taking place, interference may result. The equipment software has provisions to allow a captured device one currently engaged by the cell-site simulator to return to the host network if the captured device initiates a call. In all circumstances, devices are always able to dial 911 without any disruption of service.
This description is curious given that a Friday warrant application, filed by an FBI agent in a drug case in Wisconsin, describes "service disruption" to phones that aren't targeted by the stingray as being "brief and temporary."
(Score: 0, Redundant) by aristarchus on Monday August 21 2017, @08:28AM (9 children)
No Comment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @01:37AM (8 children)
what is this no comment nonsense?
(Score: 2, Funny) by aristarchus on Tuesday August 22 2017, @01:44AM
Must be very important, since it has attracted three (3) Spam mods. Something to do with Nazis. And free speech.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday August 22 2017, @02:40AM (5 children)
He got butthurt over having several flamebait submissions deleted while two others got mashed up in a way he didn't like. Now you're seeing him protest these decisions (indistinguishable from a temper tantrum).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @08:54AM (2 children)
AC below may well have a valid point. Just saying.
_anonystarchus_
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 23 2017, @01:58PM (1 child)
Flamebait that you submit may also be ignored, deleted, or heavily edited.
It's also bleedingly obvious that you are the only one posting those stories and certain comments.
If you quote from IRC you need to use HTML entities so that the names don't turn into tags and disappear:
<NAME> → <NAME>
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by aristarchus on Wednesday August 23 2017, @06:19PM
No comment. None necessary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @08:27PM (1 child)
Except when "we" are giving the spam mods? Shame, eds, shame!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 23 2017, @08:35PM
No comment necessary. Buuuurrrrp.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:49PM
It's a protest making the point that it's increasingly difficult to air any facts or opinions here that challenge the emerging alt-wrong orthodoxy.