The Local Cops May Be Listening to Your Cell Phone Calls

This is scary:

Police across the country may be intercepting phone calls or
text messages to find suspects using a technology tool known as
Stingray. But they’re refusing to turn over details about its use
or heavily censoring files when they do.

Police say Stingray, a suitcase-size device that pretends
it’s a cell tower, is useful for catching criminals, but that’s
about all they’ll say.

For example, they won’t disclose details about contracts with
the device’s manufacturer, Harris Corp., insisting they are
protecting both police tactics and commercial secrets. The secrecy
— at times imposed by nondisclosure agreements signed by police —
is pitting obligations under private contracts against government
transparency laws.

Even in states with strong open records laws, including Florida
and Arizona, little is known about police use of Stingray and any
rules governing it.

Check this out:

Earlier this month, journalist Beau Hodai and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Arizona sued the Tucson Police Department,
alleging in court documents that police didn’t comply with the
state’s public-records law because they did not fully disclose
Stingray-related records and allowed Harris Corp. to dictate what
information could be made public….

A December 2013 investigation by USA Today found roughly 1 in 4
law enforcement agencies it surveyed had performed tower dumps, and
slightly fewer owned a Stingray. But the report also said 36
additional agencies refused to provide details on their use, with
most denying the newspaper’s public-records requests.

Read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Michael Hewlett’s Twitter
feed.