The surveillance equipment is pricey and often sold as a package. About a dozen other companies make variants of the stingray with different capabilities. Harris also makes products like the Harpoon, a signal booster that makes the StingRay more powerful, and the KingFish, a smaller hand-held device that operates like a stingray and can be used by a law enforcement agent while walking around outside a vehicle. That company’s StingRay is a briefcase-sized device that can be operated from a vehicle while plugged into the cigarette lighter. The name stingray comes from the brand name of a specific commercial model of IMSI catcher made by the Florida-based Harris Corporation. Other common names for the tool are “cell-site simulator” and “IMSI catcher.” Why is it called a stingray? In doing so, the phone or other device reveals information about itself and its user to the operator of the stingray. Stingray is the generic name for an electronic surveillance tool that simulates a cell phone tower in order to force mobile phones and other devices to connect to it instead of to a legitimate cell tower. To better understand the kind of surveillance that may be directed at protesters, here’s a breakdown of what we know and still don’t know about stingrays, and why their use is so controversial. Given that President Donald Trump has referred to protesters as “ terrorists ,” and that paramilitary-style officers from the Department of Homeland Security have been deployed to the streets of Portland, Oregon, it’s conceivable that surveillance conducted at recent demonstrations has been deemed a national security matter - raising the possibility that the government may have used stingray technology to collect data on protesters without warrants. The Justice Department requires federal agents to obtain a probable cause warrant to use the technology in criminal cases, but there is a carve-out for national security. Stingrays are routinely used to target suspects in drug and other criminal investigations, but activists also believe the devices were used during protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, and against Black Lives Matter protesters over the last three months. Delivered to you.Īlthough law enforcement has been using the technologies since the 1990s, the general public learned about them only in the last decade, and much about their capabilities remains unknown because law enforcement agencies and the companies that make the devices have gone to great lengths to keep details secret. Both the DEA and the Marshals possess airplanes outfitted with so-called stingrays or dirtboxes: powerful technologies capable of tracking mobile phones or, depending on how they’re configured, collecting data and communications from mobile phones in bulk. A few days later, a memo obtained by BuzzFeed News offered a little more insight on the matter it revealed that shortly after protests began in various cities, the DEA had sought special authority from the Justice Department to covertly spy on Black Lives Matter protesters on behalf of law enforcement.Īlthough the press release and memo didn’t say what form the support and surveillance would take, it’s likely that the two agencies were being asked to assist police for a particular reason. Marshals Service were asked by the Justice Department to provide unspecified support to law enforcement during protests. A press release from the Justice Department at the end of May revealed that the Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Since May, as protesters around the country have marched against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists have spotted a recurring presence in the skies: mysterious planes and helicopters hovering overhead, apparently conducting surveillance on protesters.
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