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Before Using StingRays, Police Must Sign NDA With FBI

v3rgEz writes Advanced cell phone tracking devices known as StingRays allow police nationwide to home in on suspects and to log individuals present at a given location. But before acquiring a StingRay, state and local police must sign a nondisclosure agreement with the FBI, according to documents released via a MuckRock FOIA request. As Shawn Musgrave reports, it's an unusual setup arrangement for two public agencies to swear each other to secrecy, but such maneuvers are becoming more common.

8 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't mutual secrecy just implied? by swb · · Score: 5, Informative

    Of course we won't arrest you for drunk driving or domestic assault Mr. FBI, just like you won't arrest us for violating civil rights or using this highfalutin' cell phone spy gizmo.

  2. Re:More common, and possibly unconstitutional... by mythosaz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nah, now that we've listened in on your phone calls, we'll begin our process of Parallel Construction.

    Thanks for making the calls though :)

  3. Re:A little B and E maybe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    "Stingrays" are more generically called "IMSI catchers". There isn't really anything terribly secret about them, except where they're used and for what purpose.

  4. -1 Paywall by Luthair · · Score: 3, Informative

    NT

  5. Re:United States of Amerika by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I can only hope. From your fingers to God's eyes.

    The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms.
    - Adolf Hitler

    If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.
    - Joseph Stalin

    I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results.
    - Benito Mussolini, address to the Italian Senate, 1931

    All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.
    - Mao Tze Tung, Nov 6 1938

    Guns, for what?
    - Fidel Castro

    If I could have banned them all – ‘Mr. and Mrs. America turn in your guns’ – I would have!”
    - Diane Feinstein

  6. Re:More common, and possibly unconstitutional... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Because if they don't get a warrant, and don't tell the judge how they acquired the evidence, it's still OK, right?

    That is the whole idea, the devices themselves are technically not secret, just how (and by whom) they are being used. The FBI does not want mere mention of this device to come up in a court so a judge can rule that a warrant is required. The fact that the FBI is so desperately afraid that the courts are going to find out how often these are being used proves that they KNOW they are breaking the law.

  7. Re:United States of Amerika by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Informative

    If the only thing you can get out of that is "godwin" you need to update yourself on the topic. That is, fascism always marches towards disarming a population in order to further it's own agenda. A disarmed population is a cowed population.

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  8. Re:United States of Amerika by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Informative

    I can only hope. From your fingers to God's eyes.

    Oh noes...guns. So we've got guns in Canada, and guess what? We don't have the murder problem, what you have in the US in a culture problem. Or rather a culture problem with sections of your society, should I just point out the obvious? Well what the hell I've got karma to burn. If you remove black gun related crime guess where the US would sit in terms of gun violence? Not much higher than most countries in Europe. You can bury your heads in the sand, scream "zomg racist" all you want and the longer you continue to do so, the longer the problem remains unresolved. It's the same in Canada with drinking and driving, and aggravated assault. The vast majority of these cases resolve around two groups: Jamaicans and Natives. With Jamaicans it's mainly around the drug trade, especially hard drugs and Natives it's DUI, and violent altercations while intoxicated. That's why they're the two most represented minority clases in our prisons.

    I'm sure someone will trot out the "but countries that have banned guns..." yes indeed, they have pretty much eliminated gun violence. Of course criminals moved onto knives, bats, and other things. Which is why in a place like the UK if you're under 18 you can't buy a knife easily, and why assault with a weapon is the most commonly laid charge with "blunt force, or lacerations" being the primary indicator in cases of death or AS.

    I'm sure someone with an agenda will start modding this into oblivion, and I say "disprove it." The stats are out there, you can see them yourself on wikipedia and can order them under FOIA/Open Access in various countries. You don't like it? Tough, it's reality. You want it changed, fix the problem.

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