SurveillanceIRS employed cellphone-surveillance technology
The IRS spent $65,652 on surveillance technology which tracks people by capturing their cellphone calls through StingRays – devices which mimic legitimate cell towers. The devices are also known as IMSI-catchers or cell-tower simulators. In addition to locating cellphone users, StingRays also use the signals to identify the owner of the phone, and may also be able to capture the phone owner’s contacts, messages, and other content off the phone. More than a dozen federal agencies, and local police in twenty-two states, have also employed the technology.
The IRS spent $65,652 on surveillance technology which tracks people by capturing their cellphone calls through StingRays – devices which mimic legitimate cell towers. The devices are also known as IMSI-catchers or cell-tower simulators.
The Guardian reports that heavily redacted government documents, obtained by the newspaper through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, show that the tax agency spent more than $70,000 on purchasing, upgrading, and training the devices.
In addition to locating cellphone users, StingRays also use the signals to identify the owner of the phone, and may also be able to capture the phone owner’s contacts, messages, and other content off the phone.
The American Civil Liberties Union reports that more than a dozen federal agencies are using, or have used, the surveillance technology, among them the FBI, DEA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the National Security Agency (NSA). The Guardian’s revelations show, for the first time, that the IRS is also using the technology.
The ACLU notes that in addition to federal agencies, state and local police in twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have also employed the devices.
StingRays are powerful and intrusive surveillance tools, but until recently no warrant was required to use them. In September, however, the Justice Department decided to adopt a new policy which mandates that federal officials must obtain a warrant before using the technology. The new policy also requires that the information obtained by using the technology must be routinely deleted.
Privacy advocates argue, however, that DOJ’s new policy contains too many exceptions.
Las year, the Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. Marshals Service surveillance program attached the devices to airplanes so they could pick up information about thousands of people in areas the planes were flying over.
