In a recently-unsealed search warrant reviewed by Forbes, ICE used such a cell-site simulator in an attempt to track down an individual in Orem, Utah. The suspect had been ordered to leave the U.S. in 2023, but is believed to still be in the country. Investigators learned last month that before going to Utah, he’d escaped prison in Venezuela where he was serving a sentence for murder, according to the warrant. He’s also suspected of being linked to gang activity in the country, investigators said.

When the government got the target’s number, they first got a warrant to get its location. However, the trace wasn’t precise–it only told law enforcement that the target was somewhere in an area covering about 30 blocks. That led them to asking a court for a Stingray-type device to get an accurate location.

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago

They don't really have to. They can just submit numbers to service providers and the phone company will track them.

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  • 7 comments in c/technology@beehaw.org view that post
    [–] 35 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Great example of slippery slope privacy invasion in action. These stingray device were introduced for "counter terrorism" because who would support terrorists.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Everyone supports terrorists. The difference is if you support the state doing terrorism. If you're using violence for political gain, that's the definition of terrorism. States do that all the time. That's one of the primary roles of police in the US in fact.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Not sure if this is a thing on other android /iOS devices,but this setting is very much appreciated on graphrneOS

    And you can set your network to ONLY use LTE and check the towers your phone is using by using the hidden testing setting on Android by entering

    *#*#4636#*#*
    

    on your phones default dialer.

    And this app for android is particularly useful:

    https://f-droid.org/packages/com.craxiom.networksurvey

    Scans cell towers, WiFi signals, Bluetooth, and notifies if a new tower is found.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    You can also just access cell infra operator log. I can imagine they have a realtime API.

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  • 2 comments in c/privacy@programming.dev view that post
    [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Would be nice to know if a stinger is in your area via radio scanning, looking for "oddball" towers coming up at random. Not sure how one would go about setting that up.

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  • 1 comment in c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se view that post
    [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Thanks Captain Obvious

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