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San Diego Cell-tracking 'Stingray' device was kept secret
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/feb/13/cell-tracker-nondisclosure/
Cell-tracking 'Stingray' device was kept secret
Records show extent of FBI, manufacturer, police effort to conceal program
By Greg Moran | 8 a.m. Feb. 13, 2016
The City of San Diego has paid at least $365,000 to purchase the Stingray, a powerful and controversial surveillance tool that can locate and track cell phones, according to city documents that were recently released as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
The purchase included software and other equipment for the device, which law enforcement officials have gone to some lengths to keep secret. The documents were released to the First Amendment Coalition, which last year sued the city under the California Public Records Act, demanding more information on how the powerful technology is used.
Many of the documents are either partially or completely redacted, but they shed more light on the city’s purchase and use of the device that has previously not been released.
Two state laws that went into effect this year, which required more disclosure about when the device is used, have lifted some of the mystery surrounding the Stingray. But the documents show the breadth of secrecy the city was operating under after it purchased the device in approximately 2010.
The released documents include non-disclosure agreements signed with manufacturer Harris Corp. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The documents prohibit police from disclosing information about the device and how to operate it in search warrants, affidavits, grand jury hearings, “in response to court ordered disclosure” or any part of a civil or criminal trial — without written approval by the FBI.
<snip>
The documents include a “model” search warrant that San Diego police used when they wanted to deploy the Stingray to find cell phones and track incoming and outgoing calls — but that does not disclose to the judge that the police will use the device.
Instead it refers only to using pre-cellphone era technologies such as a pen register and trap-and-trace orders, which capture data from phone companies. The Stingray allows police to capture that information directly over the air.
<snip>
Cell-tracking 'Stingray' device was kept secret
Records show extent of FBI, manufacturer, police effort to conceal program
By Greg Moran | 8 a.m. Feb. 13, 2016
The City of San Diego has paid at least $365,000 to purchase the Stingray, a powerful and controversial surveillance tool that can locate and track cell phones, according to city documents that were recently released as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
The purchase included software and other equipment for the device, which law enforcement officials have gone to some lengths to keep secret. The documents were released to the First Amendment Coalition, which last year sued the city under the California Public Records Act, demanding more information on how the powerful technology is used.
Many of the documents are either partially or completely redacted, but they shed more light on the city’s purchase and use of the device that has previously not been released.
Two state laws that went into effect this year, which required more disclosure about when the device is used, have lifted some of the mystery surrounding the Stingray. But the documents show the breadth of secrecy the city was operating under after it purchased the device in approximately 2010.
The released documents include non-disclosure agreements signed with manufacturer Harris Corp. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The documents prohibit police from disclosing information about the device and how to operate it in search warrants, affidavits, grand jury hearings, “in response to court ordered disclosure” or any part of a civil or criminal trial — without written approval by the FBI.
<snip>
The documents include a “model” search warrant that San Diego police used when they wanted to deploy the Stingray to find cell phones and track incoming and outgoing calls — but that does not disclose to the judge that the police will use the device.
Instead it refers only to using pre-cellphone era technologies such as a pen register and trap-and-trace orders, which capture data from phone companies. The Stingray allows police to capture that information directly over the air.
<snip>
2 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
of the Mission Accomplished, Inc. "Distinguished Service Award."
