Electronic surveillance

Homeland Security will now get warrants for Stingray surveillance

Cell-site simulators are most often used to locate mobile devices with a specific phone number. By masquerading as a cell tower, the device can detect the phone numbers of any phone in range, and triangulate from there to determine the specific location of the phone in question. Still, the devices have drawn criticism from civil liberties groups over indiscriminate data collection, often leading to broad cell-service disruptions. In one program reported by The Wall Street Journal, the US Marshals flew over major cities with the devices, collecting data from tens of thousands of phones so as to locate a single fugitive.