Posts Tagged ‘NSA’

EFF: Law enforcement ‘desperately’ trying to hide use of surveillance cell towers

Posted: January 3, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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The_forgotten_man

Stingrays Go Mainstream

We’ve long worried about the government’s use of IMSI catchers or cell site simulators. Commonly known as a “Stingray” after a specific device manufactured by the Harris Corporation, IMSI catchers masquerade as a legitimate cell phone tower, tricking phones nearby to connect to the device in order to track a phone’s location in real time. We’re not just worried about how invasive these devices can be but also that the government has been less than forthright with judges about how and when they use IMSI catchers. This year the public learned just how desperately law enforcement wanted to keep details about Stingrays secret thanks to a flurry of public records act requests by news organizations across the country. The results are shocking. The public learned that Harris requires police departments sign a non-disclosure agreement promising not to reference Stingrays. Federal agencies like the US Department of Justice and the US Marshals Service have instructed local cities and police to keep details of Stingray surveillance secret, with the Marshals physically intervening in one instance to prevent information from becoming public. There have been repeated instances of police agencies across the country hiding their use of IMSI catchers from the judges entrusted to provide police oversight:

  • In Sarasota, Florida internal police emails revealed officers concealed their use of Stingrays from judges, having one officer withdraw a warrant affidavit that mentioned the use of an IMSI catcher, and describing a policy of referring to Stingrays as a “source” in official documents.
  • Judges in Tacoma, Washington signed more than 170 orders unknowingly authorizing Stingray use from 2009 to 2014 because police officers did not disclose the orders would be used to operate an IMSI catcher. Judges first learned they were approving IMSI catchers from local newspaper reporting.
  • In a robbery case in Baltimore, Maryland, prosecutors abandoned their use of Stingray evidence after a judge threatened to hold a police officer in contempt for refusing to testify about the device.
  • It’s not just local police. The Wall Street Journal reported on a secret US Marshals surveillance program that attaches IMSI catchers called “DRTboxes” to airplanes to track suspects, gathering data about scores of innocent people in the process. The report prompted a letter from US senators to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security demanding more information.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/2014-review-stingrays-go-mainstream

Private License Plate Scanners

Posted: September 23, 2014 by gamegetterII in NSA, police state
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Most of the license plate scanners are operated by private companies who have access to DMV ,police,courts,child support,bank,finance company,and NCIC databases.

These companies have no right to the personal information contained in these databases. Citizens do not have the right to access all of this information in these databases,it is a huge invasion of privacy.

The companies and their employees having access to these databases is wide open to corruption,they could use the data for many things that are in no way legal,and are in fact criminal,such as blackmail,accepting bribes from jealous ex wives and husbands,car loan companies could bribe employees for location data on cars they are looking for,-as described in the article-it’s a long,drawn out process to repo a car. Bribe an employee who has access to the data,and the guy finds the car without going through the courts,takes the car back,then sorts it out in court.

So it could allow the repo companies to skirt the law,private investigators could bribe employees of these companies to track the travels of people they are investigating,stalkers and jealous ex’s could use the data they get from the person they bribe to harrass their ex husband or wife,and on and on and on.

This is way beyond 1984,between “traffic cameras”,the NSA hoovering up every e-mail,tweet,text,and phone call you make,along with all your banking activity,internet browsing history,and tracking your location 24/7 from your “smart phone”-you have zero privacy unless you disconnect yourself from the matrix,don’t use anything but burner phones,and stay off the ‘net entirely-I’m sure the NSA can even track Tor users by now.

https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/private-license-plate-scanners-invade-our-privacy-%E2%80%94but-recovered-my-car-213753866.html

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