Local police all over the country are using highly sophisticated, very expensive surveillance tools to capture information from cell tower traffic from the innocent and the guilty alike. The devices they use were originally touted as "tools for combating terrorism." Now they are being used as the shortest path in solving even the most petty crimes.
USA Today is reporting that cell-site simulators, known as "stingrays" are being used at an increasingly alarming rate to capture information about all mobile phones within the area where the device is being used. There are obvious issues with the use of these devices as it relates to privacy. The stingray does not target particular phones, but instead vacuums up all data from all phones in the radius of the coverage of the device. That means that even if police were using it in the most extreme situations — say to track a kidnapper or known terrorist — there would still be legitimate privacy concerns.
Those concerns are amplified by the fact that police use stingrays for everything from serious crimes, such as those mentioned above, to petty crimes such as simple burglary and prank phone calls. Police are using these devices as the shortest path because it is easier than conducting an old-fashioned investigation. The result is that police are becoming accustomed to the ease and convenience of these tools and are using them more and more. The city of Baltimore alone has used its stingray 4,300 times since 2007. That is at least 11 times per week. The majority of those cases were for petty crimes.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/item/21482-police-departments-use-secret-tool-to-spy-on-mobile-phones
USA Today is reporting that cell-site simulators, known as "stingrays" are being used at an increasingly alarming rate to capture information about all mobile phones within the area where the device is being used. There are obvious issues with the use of these devices as it relates to privacy. The stingray does not target particular phones, but instead vacuums up all data from all phones in the radius of the coverage of the device. That means that even if police were using it in the most extreme situations — say to track a kidnapper or known terrorist — there would still be legitimate privacy concerns.
Those concerns are amplified by the fact that police use stingrays for everything from serious crimes, such as those mentioned above, to petty crimes such as simple burglary and prank phone calls. Police are using these devices as the shortest path because it is easier than conducting an old-fashioned investigation. The result is that police are becoming accustomed to the ease and convenience of these tools and are using them more and more. The city of Baltimore alone has used its stingray 4,300 times since 2007. That is at least 11 times per week. The majority of those cases were for petty crimes.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/item/21482-police-departments-use-secret-tool-to-spy-on-mobile-phones
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