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Does cellphone-sweeping technology go too far?
Police departments using secretive device to track suspects
W doescellphone
This undated file photo provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows the StingRay II, a cellular site simulator used for surveillance purposes manufactured by Harris Corporation, of Melbourne, Fla. Police departments across the country use military-developed technology that can track down suspects by using the signals emitted by their cellphones. Civil liberties groups are increasingly raising objections to the suitcase-sized devices known as StingRays that can sweep up cellphone data from an entire neighborhood. - photo by Associated Press
NEW YORK — New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas are among scores of police departments across the country quietly using a highly secretive technology developed for the military that can track the whereabouts of suspects by using the signals constantly emitted by their cellphones.Civil liberties and privacy groups are increasingly raising objections to the suitcase-sized devices known as StingRays or cell site simulators that can sweep up cellphone data from an entire neighborhood by mimicking cell towers. Police can determine the location of a phone without the user even making a call or sending a text message. Some versions of the technology can even intercept texts and calls, or pull information stored on the phones.Part of the problem, privacy experts say, is the devices can also collect data from anyone within a small radius of the person being tracked.
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