Pricey 'stingray' gadget lets cops track cellphones without telco help

Does DeKalb County have a STINGRAY? 
Not the kind pictured above, from the Georgia
Aquarium, but the kind that allows them
to track cellphone users without having
to go through the redtape of getting
a warrant or even using the help of the
telecom's to get details about your
activity and conversations.  Read more at:
NBC's article on the Prciey Stingray.

By Bob Sullivan
NBC News
April 3, 2012

Why would the well-heeled suburb of Gilbert, Ariz., spend a quarter of a million dollars on a futuristic spy gadget that sounds more at home in a prime-time drama than a local police department?
The ACLU caused a stir Monday with its extensive report of cellphone surveillance by local police departments, which routinely request location information and other data from cellphone providers, often under vague legal circumstances.

But one bit of information provided by Gilbert officials suggests that cops sometimes try to cut out the middle man. Buried in the 380 public records requests sent by the ACLU is a response from Gilbert which indicates that the town purchased a device that allows it to track cellphones on its own for $244,195.

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"The Gilbert Police Department obtained a $150,000 grant from the State Homeland Security Program," the agency wrote to the ACLU in response to a public records request. "These funds, along with $94,195 of R.I.C.O monies, were used to purchase cell phone tracking equipment in June 2008 (total acquisition cost of $244, 195)."

Gilbert didn't offer additional details about the device to the ACLU, and Chief of Police Tim Dorn didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

But several surveillance experts said the device sounds like a gadget that's sometimes called a stingray. 




Is this tower (shown in three
photos on page from different
angles) near Lakeside High
School in Atlanta really a STINGRAY? 

The stingray, made by Harris Wireless Products Group of Melbourne, Fla., lets users set up what amounts to a fake cellphone tower and trick all phones nearby into connecting with it.

That data can then be used to track the physical location of anyone nearby carrying a powered-on cellphone -- even if the citizen isn’t on a phone call. A stingray can also register other data, such as the phone numbers dialed by all phones while connected to it. The device reportedly cannot record or intercept the content of a phone call, so it does not act like a wiretap.

...

Matt Blaze, a computer science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on stingray-like devices, said they are a mixed bag."
Certainly these devices are powerful surveillance tools that, if misused, have the potential to be quite invasive against the privacy of innocent people," he said.  "But, then again, so do many other law enforcement investigative methods -- physical searches, hidden microphones, informants and so on. The question is how they are used, how often they are used and the oversight mechanisms in place to prevent and detect misuse."

“The real issue is that this device is about allowing police to perform surveillance when the phone company would say no,” said Soghoian, who is Graduate Fellow at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University. “This is not about saving time and money … it’s about the fact that there’s no one to insist that the law be followed when a stingray is used.”

Read more here. 

Let us know in the comments section if you have seen any "questionable" cell phone towers in your area, near your home, business or school in DeKalb County. 

File a Complaint with the FCC here.

Write down the license numbers ususally posted near the tower, on the fence or equipment found at the base and you can report suspicious looking towers to the FCC who must investigate all reports they receive from consumers.  They do not have the manpower to oversee towers, so unless they are reported, there is no one looking out for your rights as a citizen.