Stingray

[DQ12]

The 4th Amendment privacy discussions going on in the gun thread, reminded me of Stingray technology.  When I first heard about this, i dismissed it as tinfoil hat stuff.  Stuff Alex Jones and other paranoid weirdos ramble about that doesn't actually exist.  But after reading about it in several reputable publications, it's definitely out there. 

This stuff is the most absurd violation of the constitution I've ever heard of.  When you consider that local police departments have been integrating this technology for years, I think it's worse than anything the NSA has done.

Stingrays basically act like a fake cell phone tower. It sends out a signal to all the phones in the area, even if they're not being used.  It can be used to listen in on a cell phone and can track a cell phone and its owner right down to the room or even the pocket that it's in.  It's being used by police to find criminals, and it's being used secretly.  Prosecutors won't even talk about them in court.  These things are being used in local police vans.  Needless to say, these are absolutely against the rules.  And even the most apathetic individual re. privacy rights should at least raise an eyebrow on this.

http://www.citylab.com/crime/2015/08/youre-going-to-hear-a-lot-more-about-police-use-of-stingray/402283/
http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/18/technology/security/police-stingray-phone-tracker/
https://www.aclu.org/map/stingray-tracking-devices-whos-got-them

[michigancat]

I think the death penalty and solitary confinement are at least an equally absurd violation of the constitution. But yeah that's pretty bad.

[steve dave]

agreed dlew

[kso_FAN]

Don't you guys radiolab?

http://www.radiolab.org/story/eye-sky/

[DQ12]

Don't you guys radiolab?

http://www.radiolab.org/story/eye-sky/

do they talk about stingray in that thing?

[CNS]

They did a whole podcast on it.

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

Who is Alex Jones?

What other "nutjob" things has he been right about? Was he the guy vindicated about the ACORN thing?

[steve dave]

in a shocking turn of events literally nobody is surprised to discover FSD is an Alex jones apostle

[Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!)]

This from the leftist comic strip guy 

[Tobias]

you know, I was listening to infowars the other day and the caller (peculiar first name of 'osusux)' also sounded quite a bit like 'Lynn from salina' on the LHC Bill Snyder show

[DQ12]

FCC complaint against the Baltimore Police Department for its use of Stingrays and the tool's effect on cell phone service.  Hoping suits like this shine a lot of light on the practice.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-stingray-fcc-complaint-20160816-story.html

[renocat]

Are you saying Obama is tracking conservatives?  I just read these things make phones drop down to 3g from 4g.  Happens all of.the time to me.  Crap it did it again.