November 4, 2015
Most Everything the Feds Told Us About Stingrays is False – It’s Much Worse
A stingray is a suitcase-sized device that mimics a cell phone tower, which allows it to gather locations and data of all nearby mobile phones. This violation of constitutional rights is usually justified under the “war on terror” meme, although government is finding increasingly diverse uses.
Last week, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen testified before a Senate committee that his agency had indeed used stingrays in tax-related criminal investigations, but only with the blessing of a judge. Koskinen said the stingray “can only be used with a court order…based on probable cause of a criminal activity.”
A “court order” is not the same as a warrant and carries a lower legal burden. Court orders are usually gained through an even more vague “pen register statute” that is routinely abused.
Most federal law enforcement offices are required to get a warrant, but some agencies such as the Secret Service have granted themselves the authority to use stingrays without a warrant. How this squares with the Congressional bill, should it succeed, will be interesting.
In attempting to justify the cloak of secrecy around a device that can so easily intrude on the constitutional rights of citizens, authority figures have stated a number of falsehoods.
IRS Commissioner Koskinen stated in testimony that “[stingray] does not allow you to overhear… voice communications.” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Seth M. Stodder told a House subcommittee that the devices do not listen to phone calls or capture text messages.
However, new information has come out which demonstrates that stingrays can, in fact, intercept the content of voice and text communications. They can record numbers for incoming and outgoing calls, and can possibly use a phone as a bug by flashing its firmware.
Click on Link:
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/documents-expose-fed-officials-misleading-public-capabilities-stingray-surveillance/
