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Feds gather phone data from the sky with aircraft mimicking cell towers
Sources told the WSJ that USMS operated these planes from five major airports in the US and that the program had a flying range “covering most of the US population.” The devices on the planes can capture unique identifying information from “tens of thousands” of cellphones on the ground. Using that information, federal authorities can pinpoint a cellphone user's location from “within three meters or within a specific room in a building,” the WSJ said. (arstechnica.com) और अधिक...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
You forget that those willing to give up their freedom to the government for security get neither. You are correct that the government is not a vast network of bad people. What it is is a vast network of generally good people that play the PC game and who are not willing to challenge a superior so as to protect their cushy jobs. In this environment the few truly bad people can wreak havoc with our nation. You only have to look at the most recent and past elections to see the process work. 50 - 100 million dollars spent on campaigns for offices with a $175,000 a year salary. How's that work? well, once in, you can beg borrow and steal to your hearts content from the American people and Washington lobbyists. The lobbyist's money, by the way, also comes indirectly from the American people through higher prices. Corruption flows from the top down and is unchecked by good people unwilling to step off the gravy train. I for one am not willing to surrender my freedom and security to this system. An "all knowing" government and police force is a dangerous thing. Its not that dirtboxes and stingrays could be used for the wrong purposes, its that they will be.
Anyone have any idea as to what aircraft these are? Its quite an interesting operation.
I'm pretty certain KBWI is one of the five airports. There's a few ATR 42's based there that fly some long patterns over the region on a regular basis.
For example - N315CR
I feel so much safer after reading this,,, I just had a shiver go up my leg!
The issue is whether it is lawful to search for a criminal in this manner, and whether they are abusing their role by collecting millions of private cellphone calls. First, it is absolutely legal, if they first obtain a federal judge's approval on a search warrant. If they ask the judge for permission to search the cars of known criminals and you are stopped at the George Washington Bridge to see if you are a criminal or known terrorist, and then let go, that is not a violation of any rights that you might have. If they believe you are a known terrorist and search your trunk and find nothing, again, your rights are intact (remember, I said they believe you to be someone else). If you are, in fact, a wanted person and they find you and search your car pursuant to the warrant, too bad, they gotcha.
Now, if you are one of those people who believe the government is a vast network of bad people who only want to find out about the pot you are growing in your back bedroom or want to catch you cheating on your taxes or are upset because you called the President or some Senator a bad name, then obviously this is going to raise all sorts of red flags.
For me, I am perfectly happy in being stopped to make sure that I am not the next Osama bent on blowing up large buildings, as long as the large buildings are not blown up by the next Osama. In short, the protection we all seek and want the government to provide may involve a bit of inconvenience, well, live with it. It is the 21st century and there are no shortages of bad guys out there.