StingRay: spy tool can be used by US police to capture private mobile phone data without a warrant
Some versions of the technology can intercept texts and calls, or pull information stored on the phones
New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas are among scores of police departments across the United States quietly using a highly secretive technology developed for the military that can track the whereabouts of suspects by using the signals constantly emitted by their cellphones.
Civil liberties and privacy groups are increasingly raising objections to the suitcase-sized devices known as StingRays or cell site simulators that can sweep up mobile phone data from an entire neighbourhood by mimicking mobile towers.
Police can determine the location of a phone without the user even making a call or sending a text message. Some versions of the technology can even intercept texts and calls, or pull information stored on the phones.
Part of the problem, privacy experts said, is the devices can also collect data from anyone within a small radius of the person being tracked.
And law enforcement goes to great lengths to conceal usage, in some cases, offering plea deals rather than divulging details on the StingRay.
“We can’t even tell how frequently they’re being used,” said lawyer Jerome Greco, of the Legal Aid Society, which recently succeeded in blocking evidence collected with the device in a New York City murder case.