Posted on 09/22/2011 8:21:28 AM PDT by Palter
For more than a year, federal authorities pursued a man they called simply "the Hacker." Only after using a little known cellphone-tracking devicea stingraywere they able to zero in on a California home and make the arrest.
Stingrays are designed to locate a mobile phone even when it's not being used to make a call. The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers the devices to be so critical that it has a policy of deleting the data gathered in their use, mainly to keep suspects in the dark about their capabilities, an FBI official told The Wall Street Journal in response to inquiries.
A stingray's role in nabbing the alleged "Hacker"Daniel David Rigmaidenis shaping up as a possible test of the legal standards for using these devices in investigations. The FBI says it obtains appropriate court approval to use the device.
Stingrays are one of several new technologies used by law enforcement to track people's locations, often without a search warrant. These techniques are driving a constitutional debate about whether the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, but which was written before the digital age, is keeping pace with the times.
On Nov. 8, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether or not police need a warrant before secretly installing a GPS device on a suspect's car and tracking him for an extended period. In both the Senate and House, new bills would require a warrant before tracking a cellphone's location.
And on Thursday in U.S. District Court of Arizona, Judge David G. Campbell is set to hear a request by Mr. Rigmaiden, who is facing fraud charges, to have information about the government's secret techniques disclosed to him so he can use it in his defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ping.
Sux2bhim
When left to its own, gov’t naturall transforms into an abusive entity.
Take the battery out when not in use.
Now just wait until this gets mainstreamed/hacked to the point where it's on the street.
Then life will sure be a b(tch for the rest of us.
You can’t erase the evidence of what you are doing, how it works, what it captured and then deliver the results for discovery.
You have to present the entire chain or it’s invalid.
Now, I’ll go read the article.
OnStar.
Cell phone triangulation during calls.
Cell phone triangulation when not on active call.
All can be used to track you.
Now.... are our politicians/lawmakers concerned about the tracking of the average JOE ?
NO. What they are really worried about is whether THEY can be tracked when they go to Madam DeFarge’s House of Ill-Repute.
Or, it could be one of the best selling devices on the market.
I can't count the number of times my friends have LOST their cell phone, or had it stolen (even by supposed 'friends').
How nice to be able to quickly recover your lost phone.
You're being facetious, right? Cause if not, I'm going to nominate that for the Myopic Post of the New Millenium Award.
Thanks....
Just turning it off won’t work?
Ever try to take a battery out of an iPhone or Android or other modern smart phone? The covers don’t just slide off like older (>one year) phones.
No.
Stingray actually works with the battery removed. A focused microwave beam powers the phone briefly and then Stingray does it's job.
You have to know where the phone is to focus a beam ...
Simple. Just beam a beam right near the suspect's hip.
have yet to see a droid with out a no tools way to remove the battery..
I find I have to do this with the company Blackberry I have. Often times, it will come back on for no apparent reason. I have to physically take out the battery to be sure that it’s off.
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