Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

San Bernardino Sheriff Has Used Stingray Over 300 Times With No Warrant

Posted by samzenpus on from the was-that-wrong? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: After a records request by Ars, the sheriff in San Bernardino County (SBSD) sent an example of a template for a "pen register and trap and trace order" application. The county attorneys claim what they sent was a warrant application template, even though it is not. The application cites no legal authority on which to base the request. "This is astonishing because it suggests the absence of legal authorization (because if there were clear legal authorization you can bet the government would be citing it)," Fred Cate, a law professor at Indiana University, told Ars. "Alternatively, it might suggest that the government just doesn't care about legal authorization. Either interpretation is profoundly troubling," he added. Further documents reveal that the agency has used a Stingray 303 times between January 1, 2014 and May 7, 2015.

8 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Are they LEOs by JonathanR · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is an apparent law enforcement officer (or group thereof) who is conducting their work illegally, really a law enforcement officer?

    1. Re:Are they LEOs by BlueStrat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is an apparent law enforcement officer (or group thereof) who is conducting their work illegally, really a law enforcement officer?

      Nope, they are just Low-Earth Orbits then.

      Take from that what you can comprehend. Don't try to understand it. My head hurts.

      It's quite simple.

      They are acting as agents of State Security, or "SS".

      The SS operates without regard to laws or Constitutionally-mandated limits/restrictions to government powers. They believe as tyrants always have, that power comes from the barrel of a gun.

      At a 2008 "distressed investors" forum, Ron Bloom, appointed Senior Counselor to President Obama for Manufacturing Policy in September 2009, said:

      "Generally speaking, we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market. Or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money, 'cause they're convinced that there is a free lunch. We know this is largely about power, that it's an adults-only, no-limit game. We kind of agree with Mao, that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun."

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

      This mentality is not uncommon across government, especially the higher one looks.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    2. Re:Are they LEOs by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This mentality is not uncommon across government, especially the higher one looks.

      It is common across humankind, or even all animals in general. Looking out for yourself is a survival trait we all have. The whole idea that there is a Boogeyman (police/govt/terrorists/bankers/Bill Gate etc) is a myth. We're all the same, Milgram proved that. Given similar circumstances you or I would behave the same way, so let's stop perpetuating the stereotypes.

    3. Re:Are they LEOs by MrKaos · · Score: 4, Insightful

      At a 2008 "distressed investors" forum, Ron Bloom, appointed Senior Counselor to President Obama for Manufacturing Policy in September 2009, said:

      "Generally speaking, we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market. Or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money, 'cause they're convinced that there is a free lunch. We know this is largely about power, that it's an adults-only, no-limit game. We kind of agree with Mao, that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun."

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

      Moderated funny, of course because if you don't laugh about it, you'll cry. Big belly laughs instead of uncontrolled sobbing at realising that freedom and democracy were stolen right out from under our noses.

      Isn't this the thing the Second amendment was supposed to prevent? By all rights the US Government should be afraid of the American people, however this kind of thing shows they're not. Not that I have anything against firearm ownership however, I think more people should be armed with pens - they're more powerful tool where the state is concerned.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  2. TIL about wiretapping without wires by rakslice · · Score: 4, Informative

    I always assumed that the exception to anti-wiretapping laws for pen registers was some kind of case law.

    But not only is 18 USC 3121 is a specific law about pen registers, looking at 18 USC 3127 and the definitions that are incorporated from 18 USC 2510 , it's clearly intended to include radio communications.

    For radio that's "readily accessible to the general public" the interception and disclosure rules have an exception, as you might expect, but no sign of that sort of thing in this pen register law.

    Cool.

    1. Re:TIL about wiretapping without wires by msauve · · Score: 5, Informative

      Note that Stingrays aren't just radio receivers. They mimic cell towers, and are also transmitters. They transmit on spectrum which belongs to the cell carriers, and they do so without a license or warrant. That's illegal.

      Also, cell frequencies aren't "readily accessible to the general public" - Congress has passed laws which specifically prohibit the public from accessing those frequencies and prohibits the manufacture of general purpose radios (scanners) which can receive them.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:TIL about wiretapping without wires by Marful · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In addition to everything you've said, they are also require an Unauthorized Access to a Computer Device which is a federal crime (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act), as pushing data and handshaking with the mobile device is part of the pairing process between a mobile device and a cell tower.

  3. Short version ... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Alternatively, it might suggest that the government just doesn't care about legal authorization."

    Either the company who sells this, or the agencies using this, have convinced themselves they live in a special area of law in which reality is as they have decided it to be.

    They do not care if other people say they have no legal basis for this, they either don't care, or believe they do have a legal basis for this.

    Which basically means law enforcement is in the hands of a bunch of idiots who don't know or care the law.

    American law enforcement have become like the police in a banana republic ... they'll do whatever the hell they wish, and if you don't like it, they'll probably try to find some way to abuse the law against you.

    But make no mistake about it, these people aren't going to obey the law unless until they find themselves under threat of being in a cell themselves. And then they'll just pretend to obey the law.

    Law enforcement now believes they can do anything they want to achieve their ends. Because they're idiots who don't know or care about the law.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.