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FBI Is Behind Mysterious Flights Over US Cities

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-such-bureau dept.

New submitter kaizendojo sends a report from the Associated Press indicating the FBI has a small fleet of planes that fly across the U.S. carrying surveillance equipment. The planes are registered with fictitious companies to hide their association with the U.S. government. The FBI says they're only used for investigations that are "specific" and "ongoing," but they're often used without getting permission from a judge beforehand. "Some of the aircraft can also be equipped with technology that can identify thousands of people below through the cellphones they carry, even if they're not making a call or in public. Officials said that practice, which mimics cell towers and gets phones to reveal basic subscriber information, is rare." The AP identified at least 50 FBI-controlled planes, which have done over 100 flights since late April. The AP adds that they've seen the planes "orbiting large, enclosed buildings for extended periods where aerial photography would be less effective than electronic signals collection."

14 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Don't worry about it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm sure Obama will stop this nonsense just as soon as he's President and Bush is out of office...

    1. Re:Don't worry about it! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm sure it'll happen in his first hundred days.

      He's not a corrupt stooge for corporate interests like Bush, and he says he really cares about me as an individual. The whole world will be different once Barack Obama is president.

      I can't wait for Bush and his cronies like Rove, Rumsfeld, and Cheney, to leave office.

  2. Confused by Ziest · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you sure it's the FBI and not the Stasi? I'm having more and more trouble telling them apart.

    --
    Another day closer to redwood heaven
    1. Re:Confused by evilrip · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The Stasi would get their pants in a wet bunch if they were around today :) USA has become a fascist state. These people they do not care about anything other than their own things. Damage to you and me is just the cost of doing business for them. REFORM IS NEEDED NOW! Didn't FBI come to life inspecting brothels? Perhaps they should go back to that or dismantle if there is no longer a demand for this.

      --
      "To err is human, to forgive, beyond the scope of the Operating System"
    2. Re:Confused by SpankiMonki · · Score: 4, Funny

      Didn't FBI come to life inspecting brothels?

      Yes, but since most of the johns turned out to be Secret Service agents, they decided to focus their efforts elswhere.

  3. POE OPE DOPE by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, FBI and NSA, you only use it for good, as opposed to Putin, who uses it for evil. The goodness in your heart will prevent your panopticon from being misused to fall into dictatorship, even though nothing in human history gives you confidence in that theory, and the Founding Fathers, who barely freed themselves from a much less intrusive entity, took great care to prevent government from doing what you are doing now, because they knew the flaw in allowing government any power like that was indeed the purity of your heart and your promise not to abuse.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  4. Batman: Beautiful, isn't it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lucius Fox: Beautiful... unethical... dangerous. You've turned every cellphone in Gotham into a microphone.
    Batman: And a high-frequency generator-receiver.
    Lucius Fox: You took my sonar concept and applied it to every phone in the city. With half the city feeding you sonar, you can image all of Gotham. This is *wrong*.
    Batman: I've gotta find this man, Lucius.
    Lucius Fox: At what cost?
    Batman: The database is null-key encrypted. It can only be accessed by one person.
    Lucius Fox: This is too much power for one person.
    Batman: That's why I gave it to you. Only you can use it.
    Lucius Fox: Spying on 30 million people isn't part of my job description.

    1. Re:Batman: Beautiful, isn't it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh great, now I have to change the combination to my luggage, garage door, cellphone, and bike lock, because you posted all of them on the internet. Jerk.

  5. This is all Bush's fault!!!! by nwaack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's too bad we couldn't elect a president that promises transparency and who will work to end these practices...

  6. 50 aircraft by Tailhook · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's a big fleet of planes. Just think, one "not secret" program inside one bureau of one branch of our Federal Government controls 50 aircraft, and we're not even allow to know what this operation is called, as they smother the whole thing under shell companies.

    Isn't having a giant government great? Lets give them more money and see what they do with it.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  7. From who? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The planes are registered with fictitious companies to hide their association with the U.S. government.

    Hide their association from who, exactly? Air traffic control? It's not like you can see who registered a plane from the ground.

    This statement just screams "we are breaking the rules and don't want to get caught"

  8. Not just the USA by fremsley471 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This article is from Bristol, UK. They've been flying planes there for years.

    http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/S...

    One assumes in the UK it's linked to this:
    http://leaksource.info/2014/09...
    but that's pure speculation.

  9. At least they're not black helicopters... by Maltheus · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...cause that would just be creepy.

  10. Re:And this is why by SpankiMonki · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm just wondering, what do we think they are doing? Where I agree it looks bad, but do we have any real information about what they are doing and if the data, pictures or what have you being collected really is somehow a problem.

    Right.

    "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

    TFA notes that the FBI's surveillance is "generally" done without a judge's approval. The problem here is obvious.