Posted on 02/18/2017 7:01:30 AM PST by markomalley
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has introduced two bills to restrict law enforcement use of technologies capable of tracking users via their cell phones.
Cell-site simulators, known by the trade name "stingrays," emulate cellular network towers to collect mobile phone data, and are used by some government agencies to determine geolocation of user devices.
The Cell Location Privacy Act would require all domestic law enforcement to obtain a probable cause warrant before using cell-site simulators, permitting exceptions for foreign intelligence surveillance and "exigent circumstances"
Similarly, but more broadly, the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act, which Chaffetz and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced to their respective chambers in the 114th Congress, would establish a legal framework that governs the use of geolocation technologies, by law enforcement and non-government entities alike.
(Excerpt) Read more at fcw.com ...
He’s really pissing the Establishment off - first he decides it’s more important to investigate the illegal, treasonous leakers than to investigate Flynn, and now this....
I clicked on this, interested to see how people are using vicious fish, since I never heard of such a thing. I am disappointed.
While it seems that preventing the tracking of people by the GPS in their phones is a good thing, I wonder about unintended consequences. What if someone is lost, even kidnapped, and the police have to obtain a warrant before they can track the person’s cell phone? Couldn’t such a delay result in the loss of life?
Those might fall under the definition of exigent circumstances.
Without SEVERE CRIMINAL PENALTIES it is a worthless piece of legislation. Make it a FELONY punishable by a MANDATORY 20 years to Life to use it without a warrant or to Make Deliberate False or Misleading statements to get a Warrant for it’s use. Maybe, just maybe it would do some good.
Yeah, because we all know just how effective at curbing telemarketers the “DO NOT CALL” laws have been. I have more “blocked caller” contacts in my iPhone than I have legitimate numbers. And now I am finding when I try to trace the number back, they often come us as “unidentifiable.”
They can get location from the phone company without a warrant, just a court order (easy and fast). Granted using the stingray would not even require that, but that assumes the stingray is in the same location as the perp whereas the perp will be found anywhere using the court order.
The real reason they want to keep the stingray is to use it to capture call data, record some calls, and even do man-in-the-middle attacks on phones allowing them to install whatever software they want on people's (i.e. suspects) phones.
“DO NOT CALL” laws
Yeah I understand, when I signed up to the DO NOT CALL list, i was immediately inundated with telemarketing calls, never did it again and haven’t had a call in YEARS
; At no point in history has any government ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason ~ nully's son
Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...
Best movie EVER !!!!!
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The propensity of Feds for unbridled use of new tech baffles me. In the absence of clear legal guidance, one should default to a conservative approach and get the warrant. The DOJ seems to do the opposite. They did the same thing with GPS tracking devices, and they got smacked down. Stingray will end up in the courts regardless of this law. Cases will be destroyed as the Stingray use is disallowed and the rest of the case becomes a question of fruit of the poisonous tree.
If it is any consolation, not all operators of Stingray use it in the absence of a warrant. I know several agencies working fugitive cases that put the Stingray usage in their warrant requests.
Fine, but it’s not like technically competent people with sufficient motivation and resource (e.g. who are being paid very well) can’t create their own tracking/monitoring tools. It’s been done as long as there have been attempts at security - the old adage is “build a better lock and you will motivate a smarter group of lock-pickers”.
I understand your concerns and I have them too. But these things happened before GPS technology. So did pedo rings, drug dealers and terrorists before we began giving away our freedoms in the name of fighting these boogeyman men.I am all for prosecuting and punishinges bad men, but at what cost? We are close to living in a police state in the name or law and order.
Every new technology has both good and bad uses. The GPS technology has the capability of finding lost people and saving lives that was never possible before.
I’m only concerned that in the zeal to protect rights, the good uses of this technology might be negated.
Too late for Steve Irwin!
Devil is always in the details
Too late to save Steve Irwin.
Dang it! You beat me by five hours.
Heh. Can’t help but think of poor Steve when I see stingrays mentioned...
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