How Cops Can Secretly Track Your Phone

[Newest Reality]

A guide to stingray surveillance technology, which may have been deployed at recent protests.

Since May, as protesters around the country have marched against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists have spotted a recurring presence in the skies: mysterious planes and helicopters hovering overhead, apparently conducting surveillance on protesters. A press release from the Justice Department at the end of May revealed that the Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Marshals Service were asked by the Justice Department to provide unspecified support to law enforcement during protests. A few days later, a memo obtained by BuzzFeed News offered a little more insight on the matter; it revealed that shortly after protests began in various cities, the DEA had sought special authority from the Justice Department to covertly spy on Black Lives Matter protesters on behalf of law enforcement.

Although the press release and memo didn’t say what form the support and surveillance would take, it’s likely that the two agencies were being asked to assist police for a particular reason. Both the DEA and the Marshals possess airplanes outfitted with so-called stingrays or dirtboxes: powerful technologies capable of tracking mobile phones or, depending on how they’re configured, collecting data and communications from mobile phones in bulk.

Stingrays have been used on the ground and in the air by law enforcement for years but are highly controversial because they don’t just collect data from targeted phones; they collect data from any phone in the vicinity of a device. That data can be used to identify people — protesters, for example — and track their movements during and after demonstrations, as well as to identify others who associate with them. They also can inject spying software onto specific phones or direct the browser of a phone to a website where malware can be loaded onto it, though it’s not clear if any U.S. law enforcement agencies have used them for this purpose.

More at link -->

https://theintercept.com/2020/07/31/protests-surveillance-stingrays-dirtboxes-phone-tracking/

[alwaysinasnit]

1. k&r for visibility

[Chainfire]

2. Big Brother is watching

Leave the phone at home, pull the battery or something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Lvfeier-Security-Pouch-Anti-Tracking-Anti-Spying/dp/B07J27D5TJ/ref=pd_lpo_107_t_1/136-8063008-3544945?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07J27D5TJ&pd_rd_r=1618494b-f9e6-40a8-b1c6-be75bff3d3e3&pd_rd_w=weJ28&pd_rd_wg=hiGHz&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=CFA44KEMX5FDR4BKJ4R9&psc=1&refRID=CFA44KEMX5FDR4BKJ4R9

[2naSalit]

3. K&R

[MineralMan]

4. "May have been deployed..."

The Intercept is not a reliable media outlet. This is a speculative article, not actual news reporting.

Did they use this technology or didn't they? They "may have been deployed...?"

If anyone is concerned about this sort of thing, leave your cell phone at home when you protest, power it off, or remove the battery.

Of course your cell phone can be tracked if authorities want to track it. Of course they are doing surveillance at protests. You'd have to be very naive if you believe they are not doing that, one way or another.

[Newest Reality]

5. I thought,

I thought the information on the details about the technology was rather well done and useful to know. That was a larger part of the reporting there.

Do you think so after reading the entire piece? I came away having a good idea of how it works and what it can do. Did you think it was inaccurate from what you know about this?

[MineralMan]

6. I already knew about the technology. The question was whether it had actually

been used, as far as I'm concerned. That question was not answered, making the article speculative.

I do not trust The Intercept for one minute.

[Newest Reality]

7. I see.

So, are you of the opinion that stingray and dirt boxes were not used during the protests?

They have a high bias for the left, but also their rating is not as bad as you make it sound. Perhaps embellishing and avoiding "hurt the cause" news might be the problem with that source?

Have you been burned by articles from that site or is it the strong left bias that bothers you and leads to skepticism?

Overall, we rate The Intercept progressive Left Biased based on story selection that favors the left and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-intercept/

[MineralMan]

8. I do not know whether they were used or not.

Neither does that Intercept writer.

I do know that that technology can be used, though.

As for The Intercept, I remember who founded it. That is enough for me. I do not use it as a news source.

[Newest Reality]

9. Thanks!

That's good to know.

I just wanted to point out your bias as far as the accuracy of the article itself in order to not discourage members from reading it based on that alone.

I appreciate your feedback, though.

[Baked Potato]

10. Thanks for the article.