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BPD mum on use of cell-phone tracker purchased in 2014
By adamg on Wed, 02/24/2016 - 8:20am
The New England Center for Investigative Reporting takes a look at what we do know about Boston Police's use of a StingRay device, which can masquerade as a cell tower and intercept location data from nearby phones.
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Comments
Adam I hope you didn't post this from
your phone...
What I find funny about this
What I find funny about this equipment is that for as high tech as it is, it looks like a really old VCR and a label maker.
Peek-A-Boo
Most people don't know that MIT has a nuclear reactor, and the plasma fusion energy lab looks like an old run-down mill building --- from the outside. Looks are deceiving. Don't judge the book... etc.
Secret reactor?
You mean the one that, every. single. time. I've driven by it with somebody over the last 20 years I point at and go "Look! There's MIT's nuclear reactor!" ?
Oh, to hack...
I've always wanted to paint a big, glow-in-the-dark crack down the side of this thing. Should probably wait for my Dad to retire first, however...
all you need to know ....
Is that law enforcement and prosecutors from local PD all the way up to national investigations led by the FBI or DEA will DROP CRIMINAL CHARGES and WALK AWAY from cases if there is any chance that the use of a stingray will be disclosed in open court or open records.
These devices are so scary and non-targeted in what they slurp up (metadata, gps location, voice, data, txt, etc) from ALL cell phones in the area that they will LET CRIMINALS WALK rather than admit that the device was used
There was a case a while back where the feds actually raided the office of a state prosecutor to confiscate documents that they feared would be released
And combine all that with the fact that you can't even buy one without signing a non-disclosure with the vendor and it all adds up to something deeply scary, invasive and contemptuous of the 4th Amendment
There are only two reasons for this level of obfuscation and obstruction of justice -- either the devices are so routinely used/abused without a warrant OR the devices collect so much information that there is no way a targeted search against a single device/person could be done.
Deeply scary stuff.
And don't forget that the DEA and Feds put these in planes and circle entire cities with them
Do you seek tinfoil hats
Do you seek tinfoil hats wholesale, or do you just have the one at home?
nope!
Everything I posted above is available via open-access records, mainstream media like NYTimes, LATimes, WaPost and the Wall Street Journal. For the more technical stuff on stingrays you'll have to go to the more IT oriented websites and news spots like the intercept, boingboing, EFF, arstechnica or the register.