New Emails Show That Feds Instructed Police To Lie About Using Stingray Mobile Phone Snooping

by Mike Masnick

We've been covering the increasingly widespread use of Stingray or similar mobile phone tower spoofing equipment by law enforcement. The stories have been getting increasingly bizarre lately, starting with the news that police were claiming that non-disclosure agreements prevented them from getting a warrant to use the technology. And then, there was the recent news that the federal government was regularly stepping in to claim ownership of documents related to the technology (even when it's used by local police) in order to block them from being obtained under Freedom of Information laws. Just this morning, we wrote about some new evidence that police are claiming they need these devices to stop "weapons of mass destruction," though they then just use them to spy on people suspected of everyday crimes instead.

Late last night, the ACLU came out with perhaps the most explosive information so far: a set of internal police emails showing that the US Marshals have been instructing police to lie to courts about the use of such devices. Specifically, rather than revealing the use of the tool, they're told to just tell the court they got the information from a "confidential source." While affidavits may initially note the use of such a device, the police are told to submit a new affidavit after the fact without mentioning the Stingray, and seal the old one, so that it never becomes public. The key parts of the email are highlighted below:

This is highly questionable. Just to repeat: this is the federal government loaning out equipment to spoof mobile phone towers to spy on people and then instructing (practically demanding) that the police hide or suppress this information by claiming that it came from a "confidential source" and by sealing any affidavits that accidentally mention the use of the equipment. As the ACLU notes this practice "deprives defendants of their right to challenge unconstitutional surveillance ." It also seems like a fairly straightforward due process violation. This even goes beyond "parallel construction" in which illegal surveillance is concealed by "recreating" it in other ways. In this case, you have illegally obtained evidence... and then police are just told to lie to the court about it.

This is stunningly bad.

As some legal experts are quick to note, this seems like an astoundingly stupid move by both the US Marshals and the local police who took them up on their request. That link, includes quotes from a number of legal experts interviewed by Cyrus Farivar at Ars Technica, some of whom are actually supportive of the use of Stingrays, but who note that this effort could very well be fraud on the court.

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ICE Starts Raiding Mobile Phone Repair Shops To Stop Repairs With Aftermarket Parts

by Mike Masnick

Apparently Homeland Security's Immigration & Custom's Enforcement (ICE) team has found a new tech issue to overreact to and overhype. shutslar points us to a story of ICE agents raiding 25 smartphone repair shops in South Florida for daring to repair phones with aftermarket parts, rather than original products from Apple. As seems standard for ICE these days, rather than actually understanding the details at hand, they're taking orders from a corporate entity, in this case, Apple:

Apple is working with the government to shut down those who mislead consumers.

This seems like a massive overreaction to a mere case of "misleading" consumers. They paint this as if it's some massive danger to make use of an aftermarket/non-Apple parts in doing the repair, but it's not. In many cases, such aftermarket parts are a good way to fix a phone at a more reasonable price. If Apple feels some of the shops are misleading customers, then it can sue for trademark infringement and deal with it that way.

Having over-aggressive, amped up ICE agents pretending this is a drug raid and that they need to "shut down" these shops is a massive overreaction which only serves to help prop up Apple's bottom line by taking aftermarket competitive parts out of the market, so that Apple can keep the margins on its parts extra high. Either way, there's simply no reason for treating the whole thing like a drug raid:

"When they came in it almost looked like a drug raid," Said Abella.

Abella claims there were 20 ICE agents and two people from Apple in his small Bird Road store.

Abella says he began fixing Apple Products because everyone else was.

"We got the parts from a company in California. To this day that vendor is still selling parts," Said Abella.

"Why did the come after me?? he added.

They came after you because you weren't paying the toll to Apple, and Apple doesn't like competition. Why our taxpayer money is being used to support such a massive overreaction, shutting down small businesses who provide a useful service repairing phones, is beyond me. Honestly, ICE's propensity to act as private cops (with guns) doing favors for giant businesses is really sickening. ICE has been out of control for a long time, and shutting down small businesses because Apple doesn't want to compete? That's just crazy.

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Fuck the ice boyz and fuck apple and fuck this jackhole cuntry for allowing those ass clown corporations to mandate law where they have no fucking authority. MOLAN LABE bitches. That is total bull shit. Now I guess that anybody that fixes their car with aftermarkets parts is going to get raided by ICE. I know government is stupid but why does this not suprise me.

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Government Gets Direct Link To Your Mobile – Cannot Opt Out of President’s Text Alerts

Click to expand conspiracy quotes from this video The country that created EYEphones, has more than 300 million wireless users. And in the name of national security the U.S. Government will soon have a direct link to each and every hand held device.

Gathered at the scene of the September 11 terrorist attacks, federal and New York City officials joined the CEOs of the 4 largest wireless carriers, to announce the nations new tech tool. An alert system, enabling the president and government agencies to blast every American with text messages warning of terrorist threats, weather disasters, and kidnappings.

Now we have a system of mandatory and inescapable alerts through every cell phone in the land, in the event that the government decides something’s happening that we ought to know about. Now, just as the introduction of the Patriot Act came right after 9/11, so this new kind of technological invasion comes to us without any public discussion, right after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. The use of fear for any kind of government that craves more control over peoples lives and thoughts, is that it makes people malleable; it makes them obedient. I mean you go to any airport today and you can see this in action, that people are meekly taking off their shoes, submitting to getting groped…

In December, the Department of Homeland Security began encouraging Americans to report suspicious activity to the country’s largest food retailer. Wal-Mart’s partnership with Washington has been accused of perpetrating a climate of panic, and subsequent need for more surveillance

Following the assassination of enemy #1, an American lawmaker called for increase in rail safety funding , and the creation of a no-ride list. As U.S. officials warn of more terror threats following Bin Laden’s death, many Americans remain concerned, while others are left wondering about the dangers of forsaking too much liberty for security.

Related conspiracies: big brother, corporations, global surveillance

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