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Docs: Responding To Katrina, FBI Made Cell Phone Surveillance Its Priority

Posted by timothy on from the never-waste-a-crisis dept.

v3rgEz writes: There's a lot of lessons that the federal government should have learned in the aftermath of Katrina. Increased domestic surveillance, however, appears to be the one the FBI took to heart, using the natural disaster as a justification for ramping up its use of Stingray cell phone tracking throughout Louisiana after the storm, according to documents released under FOIA to MuckRock.

11 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. What else would the FBI by funwithBSD · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Federal Bureau of Investigation take away?

    They are not FEMA, or any relief organization, they investigate crimes. Of course they found something that would make it easier for them to investigate, damn our rights in the process.

    --
    Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    1. Re:What else would the FBI by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Never let a crisis go to waste.

      Of course the FBI is going to order stuff they think is useful. And they're going to cover it in the usual law and order gloss. Not that I think stingrays are the best way to spend money, but one does assume that organized crime is also going to look at the chaos triggered by the hurricane in order to do more of whatever it is that they usually do. Therefore the FBI needs to be prepared.

      And the will likely use cell phones. Hence the stingrays.

      If you look closer, you will undoubtedly find that every Federal agency used Katrina as an excuse to order all sorts of useful toys.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:What else would the FBI by rahvin112 · · Score: 2

      Of all the Patriot act increased surveillence practices made legal after 9/11, the FBI to my knowledge has not used a single one against a suspected terrorist, yet you will find reams of evidence of use of these tactics in drug investigations.

      The war on drugs has perverted law enforcement, now all time and money is spent on the crimes (drug crime) that pays the officers themselves.

    3. Re:What else would the FBI by KingMotley · · Score: 2

      How do you propose it does a man in the middle attack and NOT work as a bridge?

  2. Sounds helpful by hawguy · · Score: 4, Funny

    If there's anything that starving, homeless people need in a disaster, it's someone to listen in on their phone calls...which they can't make because they have no way to charge phones and no working cell towers to connect to.

    The FBI would be better off buying banks of phones with a built-in recording device connected to a wireless tower. At least that way they could help people while conducting their surveillance.

  3. Tracking by A10Mechanic · · Score: 2

    You know, being able to triangulate someone's location after a natural disaster might not be a bad thing, in cases of rescue. At least, that's how you justify it, at first. Of course, critical infrastructure for comms pretty much collapsed as soon as the batteries died, generators ran out of diesel, etc. Time is of the essence when deploying your stingrays!

    1. Re:Tracking by DarkOx · · Score: 2

      Except the cellular network can already do that. If anything stingray devices probably make that less accurate and less effective.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  4. Free Data? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm curious. Do you get free data usage if your phone is connected to a Stingray? I guess it wouldn't be so bad then.

  5. Katrina should be a learning experience by Scutter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The list of things that local, state, and federal governments did horribly wrong in Katrina's aftermath is virtually endless. There should be plenty of opportunities to learn from it but it looks like they just keep making the same mistakes over and over.

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
  6. Isn't this supposed to be the FBI's job? by DickBreath · · Score: 2

    Why would anyone be complaining about this?

    Isn't the FBI supposed to be trying to track down the person responsible for causing Katrina?


    Oh, wait. Nevermind.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  7. Re:Good Guys? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah, they do. They feel they are protecting us and doing their patriotic duty to their nation. Go talk to someone who has been indoctrinated in the military or lives inside the beltway and works inside the government, or even just talk to a regular cop.

    I have military in laws in my family, one of whom did some kind of SIGINT work for the NSA during the cold war. He's a "God and Country" sort of person; he holds very paternalistic views of the role of government in society. Not only about protecting us against foreign enemies, but also about doing what's best for your country, including obedience to the law.