Fucking scary: Indiana State Police tracking cellphones - but won't say how or why

[Poll_Blind]

Dude. Check this shit out:

Indiana State Police tracking cellphones but won't say how or why:
http://archive.indystar.com/article/20131208/NEWS/312080012/Indiana-State-Police-tracking-cellphones-won-t-say-how-why

This year, the Indiana State Police paid $373,995 for a device that law enforcement personnel have described as a powerful tool in the fight against crime and terrorism. It could allow investigators in a surveillance vehicle to park in a crowded area and track the movements of anyone nearby with a cellphone and capture the numbers of people’s incoming and outgoing calls and text messages.

All of which concerns civil liberties and open-government groups.

They worry that the technology could be used to violate innocent Hoosiers’ constitutionally protected rights to privacy if proper checks and balances aren’t in place.

But officials at Indiana’s largest police agency aren’t saying what they do with the technology; they’re mum on whose data they’ve collected so far; and they’re not talking about what steps they take to safeguard the data.

Citing concerns that releasing any information would endanger public safety by hindering the agency’s ability to fight crime and combat terrorism, they won’t even say whether they ask a judge for a search warrant before they turn the equipment on.

Ah, as the Big Brother (Federal) does, so does the Little Brother (State).

But if your metaphorical balls aren't in your throat about it yet, a sidebar on the article describes how it works:

Often installed in a surveillance vehicle, the suitcase-size Stingrays trick all cellphones in a set distance — sometimes exceeding a mile, depending on the terrain and antennas — into connecting to it as if it were a real cellphone tower.

This article from USA Today, published just a few minutes ago has an interactive infographic showing you how the Stingray system works.

PB

[defacto7]

1. Not just scary...

Would you trust the state police with your personal info? We used to be protected from such through a thing called a "warrant" that protects citizens from unscrupulous law enforcement who use anything you say "against" you in court. There was a reason for the concept of the warrant. There is reason to believe that there are a few bad apples in this world and some happen to be in law enforcement.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Why I call my cell my own tracking device

[Electric Monk]

22. I wonder if they can remotely turn on the mic and camera too, with it still looking 'asleep'.

Why not, while they're at it. If not now, soon.

[Blue_Tires]

3. When police forces are WAY overfunded

the high-tech companies swoop in with the latest expensive toys guaranteed to help them "fight crime more efficiently"...

And it's only going to get worse, since it's a political death sentence for any politician of any party to even whisper that the police forces will be just fine if there isn't a budget increase this year...

[Brigid]

4. I live in this screwed-up state.

I think maybe I'll just leave my phone at home whenever I can. I wonder if shutting it off altogether helps?

[RC]

11. Only if you remove the battery.

Turning your cell phone off does not turn it completely off. Depending on the phone, parts may be still on and working.

[darkangel218]

26. Some cell phones wont allow you to remove the battery

Such as Droid DNA.

[RC]

28. Well, there is always the hammer...

[darkangel218]

29. lol!

[madinmaryland]

5. People in Indiana have cell phones? Whoda thunk...

[Brigid]

12. Yes, we do.

We even have electricity and indoor plumbing.

[SaltyBro]

24. Why wouldn't we?

You have something against Hoosiers?

[KamaAina]

31. The name is misleading. He's actually madinohio.

But I thought it was Kentuckians who were the kings of the Hoosier joke.

[Coyotl]

6. Let me guess, they think microwaves are harmless too.

When they get cancer or something worse, they won't be able to blame their equipment, since it is harmless.

[RC]

13. Microwaves won't give you cancer.

Cataracts maybe, depending the the strength, as in looking into a waveguide or being too close to and in front of a transmitter dish.

[Coyotl]

33. read this

Naturopath Questions Presence of Cell Tower Near NCNM
Dr. Ariel Policano says the school isn't being honest about possible effects
By:
Christen McCurdy - http://www.thelundreport.org/resource/naturopath_questions_presence_of_cell_tower_near_ncnm

Portland naturopath Ariel Policano has written and self-published a book about electomagnetic frequency radiation – what she and others sometimes call “dirty electricity” – warning of the dangers of cell phones, cell towers, microwaves and other forms of dirty electricity, which she says can cause neurochemical imbalances and is linked to cancers.

Recently, she purchased a German instrument called an acoustometer and started doing readings of the levels of EMF radiation in clients' homes and in other areas in the community, including those close to cell towers – eventually measuring the radiation levels at her alma mater, the National College of Naturopathic Medicine, whose campus is located directly across from a cell phone tower.

Policano has posted a video to YouTube of her carrying the acoustometer through the school's parking lot and into the building, where she got a reading of 50,000 microwatts per meter squared.

“These readings are absolutely off the chart and incredible in a school,” Policano said, which is doubly concerning given that patients are also seen in NCNM's teaching clinics.

“I am deeply concerned about these students. They are receiving levels of radiation that are frightening,” she told The Lund Report. “They have been informed that the tower is 'low emissions' by the school administration. This is a lie or a gross exaggeration of the truth. It is not a stretch to say that the very kind souls who are at this school to help others heal may have their own health seriously negatively impacted. However, no one is telling them anything about the potential dangers.”

[RC]

34. I repeat Microwaves won't give you cancer.

Microwaves might cook you or give you cataracts, if strong enough. Or you look into the wave guide for too long or too often.
EMF radiation is not nuclear radiation. If EMF radiation did cause cancer, we'd all be falling over and dieing in the streets from all the radio transmitters all around us.
I used to work at a 100,000 watt TV transmitter site. This site also had a 10,000 watt FM transmitter. Plus several microwave links. There was another TV transmitter 2 miles away.
Also, at a different location, I worked at an AM radio transmitter, powerful enough to cover 5 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The audio monitors in the tuning shacks consisted of nothing more than a power rectifier, an audio transformer and a loud speaker, for comfortable listening. The signal was very strong there.
That was over 30 years ago. No one got any cancer. No one took enough "radiation" home to give anyone else cancer either.

[hootinholler]

7. The device doesn't trick them

It is a cell tower with a tap.

I wonder if they can do the turn on the camera and mike thing with this contraption.

[Jesus Malverde]

19. It mimics as a cell tower but I don't think they relay call, who knows these days...nt

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

8. The next step in this arms race...

...will be an app you can download to jam such devices. Wonder what the monthly fee will be?

[snot]

9. Anyone know if these things are effective as protection?

http://silent-pocket.com/

No I am not shilling for them; and I believe other companies sell similar items.

But also, if they really work to shield against GPS, RFID and other tracking -- "even your phone co won't know where you are" -- can you still receive phone calls?

[GETPLANING]

10. In a word, no

If you shield your phone then it can't connect to the network, so it can't be tracked by the network. And since it can't connect to the network, the network can't connect to your phone. So, no calls in, or out. Simpler to just turn off the phone, remove the battery.

[Silent3]

15. iPhone batteries aren't removable

I'm pretty sure just shutting an iPhone off puts it completely off the network, but if you really wanted to be extra sure, this would beat cracking open the case and desoldering the battery.

[NuclearDem]

14. This state is so fucked up when it comes to law enforcement

Just abuse after abuse. No way to stop police from entering homes without a warrant, a litany of abuses with the sex offender registry, and now this.

[jsr]

16. It's the whole country, not just Indiana.

[Th1onein]

17. They will begin using these systems more and more

as the institutions that we base our trust in our society on begin to crumble. They will become more and more obvious with this, until no one can deny that we are living in a police state.

[Jesus Malverde]

18. The obvious purpose is for political surveillance.

The more mundane would be to see how long someone had been in a bar drinking, however I don't think they would spend that kind of money on that.

[davidn3600]

20. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"

I've actually seen people here on DU saying that.

[Coyotl]

35. If you know nothing, you have nothing to fear.

Stay stupid, stay safe!

[Warren DeMontague]

21. "Fighting terror" = Parking outside the lot at Deer Creek when Phish are playing

So they can bust all the people who talk about getting high in the show.

[Vashta Nerada]

23. I thought we were supposed to have a system of checks and balances...

you know, so one branch of government doesn't get more powerful than the others?

Or is that a myth these days?

[Poll_Blind]

25. Kick for the morning crew!

PB

[FarCenter]

27. 'Stingray' Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111904194604576583112723197574

This is an older Wall Street Journal article that has a good description of how the Harris Stingray works.

A cell phone has a signaling channel that it uses to register with the local cell site and its local mobile switching center. It actually registers with the Visitors Location Register, and then in turn is registered with the Home Location Register of the carrier that you got the phone from. Much of the information carried over the signaling channel is unencrypted, and anyone with an appropriate radio receiver and decoding equipment can track the location of cellphone handsets.

It is more complex and may require the assistance of the local carrier for the test set to be able to do a man-in-the-middle intercept of both the signaling and the data/voice channels in order to obtain all of the call details and the data/voice content of a given connection.

[countryjake]

30. From that article...

"In a statement to the Journal, Sherry Sabol, Chief of the Science & Technology Office for the FBI's Office of General Counsel, says that information about stingrays and related technology is "considered Law Enforcement Sensitive, since its public release could harm law enforcement efforts by compromising future use of the equipment."

jeeze!

[Earth_First]

32. Rochester, New York won't say if it purchased surveillance equipment

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2013/12/08/city-wont-say-if-it-purchased-surveillance-equipment-/3905053/

At the very least, there's transparency in the OP link...