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IRS: We Used Stingray Devices To Track 37 Phones (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In October, we discussed the troubling revelation that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service had its own stingray devices, which are commonly used by law enforcement to intercept phone signals and track criminal suspects. The IRS has now addressed these allegations (PDF), confirming that they do indeed have one of the devices, and are trying to get a second. The agency said it tracked 37 phones across 11 different grand jury investigations, and the devices were also used in four non-IRS investigations. They say, "IRS use of cell-site simulation technology is limited to the federal law enforcement arm of the IRS, our Criminal Investigation division. Only trained law enforcement agents have used cell-site simulation technology, carrying out criminal investigations in accordance with all appropriate federal and state judicial procedures."
Yea. Right
Seriously, there need to be strict rules against spying...but those who cheat society by not paying there fair share in taxes deserve the worst the government who enables them to profit can offer.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
The IRS admitting to using this is sadly comforting, in that a government agency does not feel compelled to lie about it's use of Stingray. I am getting too used to being spied on everyday, everywhere, by everyone, about everything.
At this time, the focus should be on moving to encrypted voice communications. It is easy enough to do it with android and ios. At that point, it will not matter what tricks are pulled.
The IRS knows they are untouchable now. They can willfully destroy any private group at will, as they did with conservative groups, without punishment - who cares if at the same time they are listening on cell phone conversations of taxpayers? They say it's only the enforcement arm, but since any taxpayer is potentially lying about taxes, the enforcement arm would cover everyone in the U.S....
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"in accordance with all appropriate federal and state judicial procedures."
In other words, "as they damn well please".
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
I don't think prison works anymore, we need public hangings, hundreds of them, possibly thousands.
Was this really necessary? Forensic accounting not good enough?
Hey, they could just follow established procedure and have the UK and Australia spy on American citizens and then share the data with the US and vice-versa.
That way the US avoids spying on US citizens.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Of all the Criminal Enforcement branches of the law, the IRS's branch is most likely the ones who use this technology the way we expect them to, the way it was designed to be used. While DHS is likely to keep ALL the data they collect, I can easily imagine that the IRS will either not record, or swiftly dump, any data that isn't specifically attached to the investigation at hand.
Revenue Officers have a good deal more power to them than a typical investigator, as they can make determinations that ..really don't have a practical oversight to them beyond themselves. But, to balance that, they also are the ones who have to follow up on any of these determinations they make; they aren't typically passing it off. So, like you might think with typical governmental workers, I can't imagine they'd want to make more work for themselves than is necessary. So, keeping/reviewing data outside the specific needs of their case isn't likely something they're going to engage in.
That said, the Criminal Investigations arm of the IRS is small but have wide reaching powers, and historically, these agents are pretty judicial with the use of their power. If someone wasn't scrutinizing service contracts to see that the IRS has one, no one would likely ever know they've employed the use of one...because they use it the way we (the public) might expect them to. On people who are 'bad guys' avoiding the law, not typical citizens.
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
Yeah, those horrible Republicans that were in power in October 2011 when the IRS bought the Stingray device.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
they can get one from the DoJ or DHS.
But then how will the IRS conduct an investigation on the DoJ or DHS? How do you think these agencies manage to stay in power anyway?
Have gnu, will travel.
It's troubling because the very nature of the stingray device means that innocent people are getting swept up in the fishing net by design. The stingray isn't capable of targeting the communications of a suspect in a criminal investigation; instead, it interferes with and collects the cellular signals of everyone in physical proximity to the device. There's a good reason the DOJ is trying to hide this technology behind corporate NDAs as if they somehow trump the law; there's a good reason they're fighting tooth and nail to keep stingrays out of court, even to the point of dropping charges when they think a stingray would be brought into evidence. They don't want to lose their fancy toy the first time a judge gets the chance to rule on its constitutionality.
They should have the same tools available to them as other federal law enforcement agencies, like the FBI, Secret Service, DEA, ATF who have responsiblity to investigate organized crime.
I agree, and none of them should be using stingrays. Get a fucking warrant and go after your target through CALEA, which already has loopholes big enough to drive a truck through, and quit spying on innocent bystanders.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!