New Documents Reveal Details About Police Cellphone Tracking Devices
Newsweek has beforehand wireless item locator reported on the shroud of secrecy surrounding state and native regulation enforcement's use of Stingrays-monitoring devices that give a cellphone's location and extract call logs. But in response to new paperwork obtained by MuckRock last week, there is a good reason we know so little. Four of the doc's six pages are completely redacted, but the few unclassified paragraphs reveal that the FBI required Washington state's Tacoma Police Department (TPD) to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) before acquiring the tools. Invoices handed over by the TPD in August revealed that the division first bought a Stingray in 2007 for $251,752, ItagPro paid for by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2013, the TPD upgraded the device and obtained training on its new capabilities-also largely funded by the feds. The doc obtained by MuckRock also reveals intimate collaboration among the many FBI, Harris Corp. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to not solely proliferate Stingray technology among police but in addition to maintain the knowledge secret.
The doc exhibits that the TPD informed Harris of its need to acquire "certain wireless item locator assortment gear/know-how." Harris manufactures cellphone tracking devices like the Stingray and sells them to law enforcement with the approval of the FCC. The corporate has more than $5 billion in annual sales. After receiving the request from the TPD, Harris notified the FBI, which then sent the police division the NDA. The doc makes clear that completion of the NDA can also be required by the FCC. Though the FCC authorizes legislation enforcement to make use of Stingrays, the truth that the agency requires an NDA from police is peculiar, in line with Alan Butler of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. In a dialogue with Newsweek, Butler mentioned, "This reveals they are regulating to some extent," however "it isn't sufficient for the FCC to cover up the use of those units to prevent the hurt the know-how poses to telephone users." This know-how, he notes, is already out in the wild. But the relationship between the FBI, Harris and the FCC is probably not as close as this doc leads us to believe. Different documents obtained final week by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California reveal that the FCC has given only restricted approval to be used. The ACLU says the e-mail's contents present that Harris misled the FCC while it sought approval to promote its units to legislation enforcement and presumably signifies that the FCC approved use of the technology with bad data. Watchdog teams have previously speculated that one thing like an NDA was behind the lack of knowledge launched about Stingrays. But now that the proof is in black and ItagPro white, within the form of unclassified paperwork, they're left with some answers-but much more questions.
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