A Secret U.S. Spy Program Is Using Planes to Target Cell Phones

[UncleBeer 244]

The lefties here were moaning about the Patriot Act. That ain't nothing next to this. Original WSJ story behind a paywall, but the story is repeated in a variety of places including Huffington Post. This then from Gizmodo, a tech wonk blog.

A Secret U.S. Spy Program Is Using Planes to Target Cell Phones

A secret U.S. spy program used fake cell phone towers attached to airplanes to scan citizens' cell phones and collect their data, the Wall Street Journal reports.

What the hell.

The scheme, carried out by the Technical Operations Group of the U.S. Marshals, uses devices known as "dirtboxes" to mimic powerful cell tower signs. These dirtboxes are strong enough to trick phones to automatically switch over to their signals, even if a real tower is nearby. The plan aims to help the Justice Department catch criminals. I'm all for putting the bad guys away, but the way this is being carried out involves bogarting a TON of other peoples' data in the pursuit of incriminating evidence. Sources say they "let go" of the data after they've determined that a phone does not belong a suspect, but what that means exactly is unclear.

When these planes go over cities, they cast an insanely broad airplane data dragnet that sucks up information from phones even if they're not in use:

The U.S. Marshals Service program, which became fully functional around 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area airports, with a flying range covering most of the U.S. population, according to people familiar with the program.

Planes are equipped with devices—some known as "dirtboxes" to law-enforcement officials because of the initials of the

Boeing

Co. unit that produces them—which mimic cell towers of large telecommunications firms and trick cellphones into reporting their unique registration information.

The technology in the two-foot-square device enables investigators to scoop data from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight, collecting their identifying information and general location, these people said.

The details revealed in the WSJ article are nuts: One source said connecting to the fake roving towers can briefly disconnect calls, and that authorities were trying to figure out a way to make sure it didn't mess up calls to 911.

The sources said that these sneaky spy planes have already gotten results, helping catch drug dealers and killers, but did not name names.

This is a huge deal. If the details in the WSJ are accurate, this program is as invasive and disturbing as the NSA surveillance programs exposed last year.

American Civil Liberties Union chief technologist Christopher Soghoian told the WSJ that this was "a dragnet surveillance program. It's inexcusable and it's likely—to the extent judges are authorizing it—[that] they have no idea of the scale of it."

"There are some serious and troubling legal questions about this program," EFF Staff Attorney Hanni Fakhoury told me. "It's important to note this is very different from the government getting this information from a phone company. In the last few months, many state courts and legislatures have required law enforcement get a probable cause search warrant to use these devices. The US Marshals should explain how this program works and what kind of court authorization, if any, they're obtaining to fly planes with 'dirtboxes.'"

That another instance of a large-scale, secret surveillance program from the U.S. government has been exposed will undoubtedly continue to corrode the public's faith in the government's commitment to protecting privacy.

Surveill me once, shame on you, surveill me twice, shame on me (and you, still, obviously).

The fake phone tower signals used work even on phones with encryption, like the iPhone 6, so there's virtually no way phone makers could've prevented this from happening.

The Justice Department has neither confirmed or denied the WSJ report. I reached out to the Justice Department and it declined to comment.

[MyLittlePony 340]

I have nothing to hide no worries.

[lostinblue 1,989]

I have nothing to hide no worries.

That is what they said .

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Another spy program brought to you by the George W. Bush administration. Thanks a lot!

The Justice Department is scooping up data from thousands of cellphones through fake communications towers deployed on airplanes, a high-tech hunt for criminal suspects that is snagging a large number of innocent Americans, according to people familiar with the operations.

The U.S. Marshals Service program, which became fully functional around 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area airports, with a flying range covering most of the U.S. population, according to people familiar with the program.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-cellphones-targeted-in-secret-spy-program-2014-11-13

[JohnR! 5,495]

:rofl: :rofl:

Another spy program brought to you by the George W. Bush administration. Thanks a lot!

[MyLittlePony 340]

Blame it on Bush.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Blame it on Bush.

It's a program that became fully operational in 2007. Wasn't he President then?

[spookyturtle 9,465]

It's a program that became fully operational in 2007. Wasn't he President then?

NO. And I'm certain that the Republican's knew nothing about it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

NO. And I'm certain that the Republican's knew nothing about it.

That's a given.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Another spy program brought to you by the George W. Bush administration. Thanks a lot!

I think Obala has been Preznit about 6 years , still Bush's fault

Edited November 15, 2014 by The Nature Boy

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

It's a program that became fully operational in 2007. Wasn't he President then?

So the Preznit can stop everything else thru an executive order, but he can't stop something he actually has the power to stop.

Sweet.

It ran under Bush for a year but under Obama for 6 but it's still Bush's fault

Denier derangement syndrome

[UncleBeer 244]

I think Obala has been Preznit about 7 years , still Bushs fault

Hey, he said he was gonna fix ALL this stuff, as well as lower the sea levels. Whatever happened to that nice young man?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Hey, he said he was gonna fix ALL this stuff, as well as lower the sea levels. Whatever happened to that nice young man?

National debt is unpatriotic

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

So the Preznit can stop everything else thru an executive order, but he can't stop something he actually has the power to stop.

Sweet.

It ran under Bush for a year but under Obama for 6 but it's still Bush's fault

Denier derangement syndrome

Bush established it. Fact. But do keep deflecting. I blame that on ODS.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Bush established it. Fact. But do keep deflecting. I blame that on ODS.

Denier Derangement.

So if Bush started a bad program and had it a year and Obama kept it alive for 6 more he is blameless

It's Bush's fault it still there. OMG SMH can't make this up