whether you're here here here or at one of these it doesn't matter this can find you the common name stingray technically a cell site simulator first developed for military use it's made its way into local law enforcement it can track a person down to the room they're in if they have their cell phone on them stingrays turn these into homing devices and that's just the beginning these are tracking devices this is emitting a signal this is gps mike mino with the north carolina branch of the aclu has been watching the spread of sting rays for years it's my understanding that the software that a lot of these devices use is capable of capturing things like your text messages the numbers you're calling and receiving calls from that guy looks like a throwback from the 80s who wears a mustache like that anymore uh yeah this is interesting because this comes from august 2017 so can you imagine the technological advancement in 2022 from back then you know for sure they're getting people's location here's how it works cell phones are always trying to connect to nearby cell towers a stingray acts like a cell tower decoy in what's called a man-in-the-middle attack it tricks cell phones into thinking it's the nearest cell tower phones connect to the stingray and police can access a range of personal information but they don't just get intel on one phone every phone nearby is forced to divert to the stingray calls are passed on to a real cell tower data scooped up stays with police when you ask them why they're using it they'll say well we're targeting certain individuals but the nature of the technology is so expansive that you cannot use this without countless innocent people having their data captured as well the i-team has learned at least three law enforcement agencies in the triangle have been using cell site simulators but they don't like to talk about it and may not be allowed to these two purchase orders show raleigh and durham police bought variations of the stingray within the last 10 years raleigh's so what does that say about the raleigh police and the the other police department they don't care about your privacy they want to intercept the information that you have on your cell phone and they want to be in control of that information wow disorder obtained by the i-team two years ago shows the department paid more than 120 thousand dollars for the device separate documents obtained by the aclu show durham spent nearly twice that in spite of those purchase orders both departments claimed not to be using one when the i-team asked recently raleigh says they stopped using theirs because of outdated technology with the stingray though secrecy is part of the deal durham's contract with the device i don't believe one word that's oh yeah we bought it we paid 226 000 for it but we never used it and it's not being used now matter of fact we i think we dumped that hey uh barney didn't we dump that in the dumpster yeah we dumped in the dumpster yeah i believe yeah i believe you police department manufacturer includes a strict non-disclosure clause not just about the stingray but about the agreement itself and its subject matter there is such secrecy around this and i think it's because it's so powerful i have a cell site simulator and we do use it wake sheriff donnie harrison is the only current law enforcement officer we could find here or elsewhere willing to talk even a little about the device and how it's used it's a very useful tool that we use not only for the bad guys but for looking people that are lost looking people that say they're going to commit suicide oh yeah it'll never be abused it'll never be abused by law enforcement sometimes we have used them for children that's missing that have phones and basically that's all about all i'm going to say about it harrison told us wake county has had a cell site simulator since 2008. he insists they're always within the law and always get a warrant first but there's very little public documentation of those warrants or of the use of stingrays in general here or in any of the cities in which we looked but no we don't like to talk about it you know when a general goes in battle he doesn't give out his battle plans who are you in battle with oh that's right your battle in battle with the people but they'll use the justification for having that kind of equipment we're just doing it to to just to nab the bad guys and if somebody wants to take their life you know we're going to step in and help them we would never abuse it and just like unleash this on the entire public or anything it's the classic question safety or privacy law enforcement will tell you these things get bad guys off the street and help good people out in the meantime of course they'll tell you that that's the safety and security of the public will always be the alibi of tyrants that's how they do not it's necessary necessity will always be the plea for every infringement of authority every infringement good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority what it is william pitt the younger said necessity will always be the plea for every infringement of human freedoms it's the argument of tyrants it's the creative slaves the argument of this tyrant is we're just trying to help people my gosh it'll it'll enable able us to use the technology to talk somebody down from a bridge who's wanting to end it all that's all we're doing we're not gonna spy on your private conversations we're not gonna enter your house we're gonna completely respect the first amendment the second amendment the the fourth amendment in this case the you know the fifth amendment well maybe maybe there's a there's a vague illusion to the fifth amendment right here like if you wanted to keep silent and not divulge any information well they're gonna they're gonna go over that hurdle they're gonna sidestep that right there they're gonna like hey i have access to all the information on your phone i want because we've invested 226 000 into this system they're not going to throw that power away once they once power is accumulated it's not easily given back once a psychopath gets that acquires that power you're going to have to rip it from his cold dead hand to get it back away from him critics say we just don't know and we don't by design as long as we do it lawfully i don't care what people say my job is to keep people safe no no your job is to protect liberties matter of fact the time and time again what is it gonzales versus castle rock and deshany versus winnebago county the the police are under no obligation to keep you safe they're under no obligation to protect you like the gonzalez versus castle rock mrs gonzalez was trying to put a restraining order on mr gonzalez because she didn't want that psychopath and that's you know loosely using her words to come near their three children well guess what she got the restraining order the cops didn't enforce the restraining order he nabbed the three kids ended their life drove them to a police station all their bodies are in the car and had a shootout with the cops at the police station in that context the supreme court said that don't expect the cops to be obligated to protect you that's that's a lie what that guy just said he's supposed to be there to just safeguard liberty not to keep you safe but to safeguard liberty this is the exact opposite of safeguarding liberty this is stealing liberties this is stealing anonymity and your personal freedom your personal right to keep everything private amazing this guy's li this guy right here is as long as it's lawful there are a lot of things that are lawful that are anti-liberty there are a lot of things that are lawful that actually end up harming the public that they say they're there to help as long as it's lawful i don't care what people say come on by design as long as we do it lawfully i don't care what people say my job is to keep people safe the public needs to know more i think this is something that the courts need to know more about there are real questions about whether a technology that soaks up innocent people's data can be used constitutionally yeah let's let's rely on the courts to protect our constitutionally protected uh rights let's let's rely on the courts the courts who basically said hey you know what uh terry v ohio let's go ahead and make police safety uh a higher priority than individual liberties because that's what that's what terry v ohio is i like how uh it's boiled down basically it's police officer safety trumps individual rights is what terry v ohio is that is we get to stop you we get to frisk you we get to suspect if you're engaged in criminal activity with a firearm so that's that's it right there the stingray how law enforcement can track your every move and that was back in 2017 guys imagine the technology they have right now imagine them setting up a base of operations you have no idea what they're extracting from your phone right there that's why it's probably a good idea to have a vpn on your phone although i'm not so sure you know maybe maybe they can sidestep all that stuff what a crazy wicked world we live in they don't lie to you because the truth will hurt your feelings they lie to you because the truth might provoke you to make choices that won't serve their interests leave your thoughts about this for the world and the global thought police in the comment section below if you haven't done so already subscribe to the channel hit the bell notification icon give it a thumbs up share it with everybody you know and don't forget to subscribe to my private email list where you'll get a free ebook at high impactflix.com [Music]