Obama won’t let defendants cross-examine the tech used to arrest them

The Feds have given your local police department some nifty tech to track where you and your cellphone are at all times. However, the device, called “Hailstorm,” comes with strings attached:

. . . the Obama administration has aggressively tried to keep [details about Hailstorm] secret. Citing security reasons, the government has intervened in routine state public-records cases and criminal trials, and has advised police not to disclose details. . . .

The Hailstorm, made by Florida-based Harris Corp., can sweep up cellphone subscriber-identity data by tricking phones into thinking it’s a cell tower. That data is then transmitted to the police, allowing them to locate a phone without the user even making a call or sending a text message.

All I can say is that I want to get me one of these things! Installed in the BiteCastle’s Security Office, it will enable me to know where every BiteMe employee is 24/7.

Baltimore police use secret cell phone surveillance tech – NY Daily News.

[Edited 12-27-2017 to add:] NB: The first such product on the market was the Stingray from Harris Corporation (Remember Harris-Intertype? Same guys.). But other similar products can be found under names such as Kingfish, Amberjack, and Hailstorm.

One thought on “Obama won’t let defendants cross-examine the tech used to arrest them

  1. The Bitemaster and the New York Daily News were all over this story more than two years ago. Now, thanks to the Hon. Martin P. Murphy, Acting Justice, Supreme Court, Kings County, it’s back in the news:

    “Justice Martin P. Murphy said the New York Police Department had improperly homed in on an attempted murder suspect last year by intercepting the suspect’s cellphone signals without a warrant based on probable cause that he committed a crime. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/nyregion/brooklyn-judge-stingray-cellphone-tracking.html?ref=todayspaper]

    For more info on these nifty gizmos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker

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