Report: Local Police in California Using "StingRay" Spy Devices
In California, newly revealed documents show local police are using powerful devices that allow them to secretly collect location and other data from cellphones. Known as StingRays, the devices pose as cell towers to intercept real-time data from all cellphones in a certain radius. While their use by federal agencies was previously known, new records obtained by News10 in Sacramento show StingRays are in wide use by police forces in California, from Los Angeles to Sacramento and Oakland, where they were used to make 19 arrests in 2009 alone. According to News10, "When Miami-Dade police [in Florida] submitted a grant application to buy a StingRay, they told the city council they needed one to monitor protesters at an upcoming World Trade Conference. Parking a StingRay outside the protest would give law enforcement the names and telephone numbers of everyone nearby."