IRS Joins FBI, DEA and Other Agencies To Spy On Americans
If you think you’re being spied on, you likely are. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has joined the list of at least thirteen federal agencies now equipped with sophisticated surveillance technology known as Stingray. The information was confirmed by The Guardian, which obtained invoices following a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) acknowledging the purchase of the devices in 2009 and 2012. The 2012 invoice indicates that IRS spent more than $70,000 on training and the purchase of a more powerful version of the Stingray called a HailStorm from the Harris Corporation which manufactures the devices.
Stingrays are also known as “cell site simulators” or “IMSI catchers.” The highly controversial devices, only slightly larger than a laptop, mimic cell phone towers and send out signals, or pings, to trick cell phones in the area into sending signals back with their location and other identifying information which may include the phone’s contacts, messages, and other content. While the devices are generally intended to target a specific target’s cell phone, the devices are capable of gathering the same information from nearby cell phones – folks who might be intended targets. Some smaller devices using related technology used by state and local law enforcement are virtually undetectable, about the size of a person’s hand.
Why is this alarming? The ability to gather data from all cell phone users in one location, including those who might not have been targets, is powerful. The data associated with innocent people may now be available for purposes it was perhaps not intended to be secured for in the first place. Additionally, while it has traditionally been the case that persons are generally protected from searches in places where there might be an expectation of privacy, such as inside a person’s home, the wide reach of the Stingray can allow for what is basically a warrantless search. The latter causes most to be concerned about this blantant constitutional violation.
Prior to the acknowledgment that IRS has this technology, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had identified 12 other federal agencies with Stingrays. Those agencies include Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. National Guard, U.S. Special Operations Command (Special Ops), and, of course, the National Security Agency (NSA).
Read the rest here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2015/10/26/irs-joins-fbi-dea-other-federal-agencies-with-access-to-cellphone-surveillance-technology/