6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt Search Techdirt Techdirt Main Wireless News Submit a Story Innovation Case Studies Startups Net Neutrality Preferences Techdirt Deals! Search Register Sign In RSS Follow Techdirt Techdirt – The Rise Of The On-Demand Economy << Daily Dirt: Drink No W ine Before It's Time?     Patent Reform Bill A Good Step, But Still... >> Advertisement FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It from t he [NOTHING-TO-SEE-HERE] dept Failures by Tim Cushing Fri, May 1st 2015 6:36pm 0 MuckRock has obtained a whole stack of Stingray-related documents from the FBI. As is to be expected, there's not much left unsaid by the agency, which is at least as protective of its own Stingray secrecy as it is with that of law enforcement agencies all over the US. There's nearly 5,000 pages of "material" here, most of which contains only some intriguing words and phrases surrounded by page after page of redactions. Want to know [REDACTED]'s thoughts on the possible legal implications of Triggerfish? Just close your eyes and allow your imagination to run free. Essential Reading Hot Topics Filed Under: fbi, foia, imsi c atc her, redac tions, stingray 5.2 Putin's Internet Propaganda War Is Much Bigger And Weirder Than You Think, Now Extending Into The States 5.1 New Zealand Steps In To Block US Gov't From Stealing All Of Kim Dotcom's Stuff 5.1 Universal Music Takes Down Maroon 5's Own Video With A Copyright Claim Permalink. New To Techdirt? Explore some core concepts: Step One To Embracing A Lack Of Scarcity: Recognize What Market You're Really In The Grand Unified Theory On The Economics Of Free Perhaps It's Not The Entertainment Industry's Business Model That's Outdated Here's a quick reference guide that allows FBI agents to quickly match up their chosen "technique" with the appropriate legal standard and process. read all » Techdirt Deals Techdirt Insider Chat https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 1/8 6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt cypherspace: Hey now. I heard New Vegas wasn't half bad... Violynne: New Vegas wasn't made by Bethesda. ;) IMO: Fallout 3 was a better game, but FONV had the better mechanics. Here's hoping FO4 is the best of both. Mark Harrill: Maybe now Hollywood will reconsider their release windows: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/201506-02/online-video-revenue-to-pass-dvds-thisyear-theaters-in-2017 Village Idiot: I am not sure that I can be done with TW3 in tme for FO4... BentFranklin: "But when you're used to cheating, you do it even when you don't have to." Great line. Get the Insider Chat! Techdirt Reading List Advertisement That's not to say there's nothing of interest left intact. A few pages explain the FBI's legal rationale for IMSI catcher deployment -- including the fact that the Patriot Act expanded the reach of pen register orders to include not just numbers dialed, but also the location of the phone itself. This allows the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to route around one of CALEA's (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) few limitations related to pen register orders: that service providers not be required to hand over subscriber location info. In passing CALEA in 1994, Congress required providers to isolate and provide to the government certain information relating to telephone communications. At the same time that it created these obligations, it created an exception: carriers shall not provide law enforcement with "any information that may disclose the physical location of the subscriber" in response to a pen/trap order… By its very terms, this prohibition applies only to information collected by a provider and not to information collected directly by law enforcement authorities. Thus, CALEA does not bar the use of pen/trap orders to authorize the use of cell phone tracking devices used to locate targeted cell phones. But, for the most part, it's 5000 pages of this: Recent Stories Thursday 21:21 The Revolution Will Be Babysteps: NFL/Yahoo Ink Deal For Exclusive Web-Stream Of Bad Football Game (3) 17:00 DailyDirt: Brain-Controlled Robots... And Vice Versa? (2) 16:06 TISA Agreement Might Outlaw Governments From Mandating Open Source Software In Many Situations (6) 15:08 Universal Music Takes Down Maroon 5's Own Video With A Copyright Claim (25) 13:59 Twitter Just Cut Off Politwoops In Another Effort To Keep The Platform Closed (19) 12:55 What The Oracle-Google Copyright Fight Has To Do With Klingon... And Lots Of Other Innovations (13) 11:54 DOJ Blurred Lines Between Terrorism & Crime To Expand NSA & FBI Warrantless Wiretapping Of 'Hackers' (17) 10:44 Putin's Internet Propaganda War Is Much Bigger And Weirder Than You Think, Now Extending Into The States (70) 10:40 Daily Deal: Complete Arduino Starter Kit And Course Bundle (3) 09:43 New Zealand Steps In To Block US Gov't From Stealing All Of Kim Dotcom's Stuff (90) More  Advertisement And this (from a document titled "Stingray for Dummies"): https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 2/8 6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt Support Techdirt - Get Great Stuff! It's not a complete loss, although it's clear the documents suffer from over-redaction. The FBI clearly doesn't want to discuss methods or technical details, but nothing in the multiple FOIA exemptions deployed justifies covering up its minimization procedures or where the device sits in terms of the Fourth Amendment. "It does not seem credible to me that they can't release more of those kinds of records," [ACLU attorney Nate] Wessler told me. "Information about ongoing investigations, highly technical details of the devices, how they're put together, those kinds of things, redact them, fair enough. Information about whether they have to get a warrant or not, how they purge or do not purge bystanders data. They're clearly talking about those things." "There's no conceivable reason why they shouldn't tell the public what their Fourth Amendment rights are protecting when they use these," he added. "The documents are not without value, but what the FBI has released is not adequate." If nothing else, the documents have given a small, narrow glimpse behind the FBI's veil of secrecy -- as well as some more insight into its Stingray-related legal maneuvering. The FBI has managed to turn a pen register order -- something previously used to collect dialed numbers -- into something that can be deployed to locate an individual, or at least their cellphone. Unsurprisingly, this legal theory traces back to the Patriot Act, one of the largest expansions of intelligence and law enforcement powers ever produced by the US government. To print the document, click the "Original Document" link to open the original PDF. At this time it is not possible to print the document with annotations. Tw eet 166 Like 68 28 Comments Leave a Comment https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 3/8 6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt If you liked this post, you may also be interested in... DOJ Blurred Lines Between Terrorism & Crime To Expand NSA & FBI Warrantless Wiretapping Of 'Hackers' House Overwehelmingly Passes Amendments Blocking Funding For Undermining Encryption Pentagon Offered 'FOIA Terrorist' Jason Leopold A Stack Of Documents To Just Shut Up And Go Away Forever 'Insert Probable Cause:' Pen Register Boilerplate Hides Sheriff's Department's Hundreds Of Stingray Deployments AP Uncovers More Than 100 FBI Spy Plane Flights, Originating From Shell Companies Located In Virginia Reader Comments (rss) (Flattened / Threaded) 1. Show All Comments M. Alan Thomas II (profile), May 1st, 2015 @ 6:37pm insightful funny report STEP 2 Turn StingRay system on. What is step 1, "Take it to the site"? "Plug it in"? And that's too sensitive to tell us?!? [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 2. Anonymous Anonymous Coward, May 1st, 2015 @ 6:43pm   insightful funny report Re: No, step one is sign NDA. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 3. Hans, May 1st, 2015 @ 7:41pm   insightful funny report Privileged I see they used the "Attorney/Client privileged" dodge to exclude the Cell Phone Location Quick Reference Guide on pages 10-11, so we can't see what the criteria are for using this thing. Isn't great that a government employee, paid by us, can ask a government lawyer, also paid by us, under what conditions our Constitutional Rights can be violated, and we can't know what those rules are? Kafka would have been proud. It seems to me that if the government can claim to be a "client" for this purpose, and the government is also "the people", then we the people are also the client and we have every right to see it. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 4. Anonymous Coward, May 1st, 2015 @ 8:08pm   insightful funny report Repeal the PAT RIOT Act. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 5. Padpaw (profile), May 1st, 2015 @ 8:23pm   insightful funny report well of course its mostly blanked out. Otherwise they would incriminate themselves and the police groups that have knowingly and willfully broken the laws they know will get them arrested and most likely sent to jail for breaking [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 6. Spaceman Spiff (profile), May 1st, 2015 @ 8:32pm   insightful funny report And so it goes on, and on, and on... The FBI could just have easily given them 10 reams of blank paper. It would have said just as much as this! [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 7. Anonymous Coward, May 1st, 2015 @ 8:44pm   insightful funny report National security. It's a good thing the electorate is exactly as stupid as the government needs it to be. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 4/8 6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 8. Anonymous Coward, May 1st, 2015 @ 8:59pm   insightful funny report It's going to be interesting if the Patriot Act is allowed to sunset. What justification would the FBI then use for it's continued use? [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 9. Padpaw (profile), May 1st, 2015 @ 10:51pm   insightful funny report Re: they just won't tell anyone they are doing illegal things. You might notice a theme with the government in that they do illegal actions all the time and only after they get caught do they try and make excuses or just say national security and cover it up [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 10. Mega1987 (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 1:41am   insightful funny report can i even say it's a perfect waste of resources... to redacts most of that near 5k pages of info? [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 11. avideogameplayer, May 2nd, 2015 @ 4:51am   insightful funny report M aybe the FBI should just start handling out gift cards for Staples... At least that'll be useful for something... [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 12. tqk (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 6:19am   insightful funny report Re: Oh, come on! This's a vast improvement over earlier efforts. They're using blank white boxes now, saving you a fortune on black ink. I guess those replacement printer cartridges are getting really expensive. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 13. cypherspace (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 6:21am   insightful funny report M ike, I think you need to have some sensitivity towards readers with psychological trauma over cell tower spoofers. You should put a "TRIGGERFISH WARNING" in your title! [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 14. cypherspace (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 6:21am   insightful funny report Re: Correction: Tim [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 15. cypherspace (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 6:31am   insightful funny report Re: Privileged #checkyourattorneyclientprivilege [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 16. cypherspace (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 6:36am   insightful funny report Re: Anyone else notice that the "B5 exemption" reads similarly to "BS exemption?" [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ]   https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 5/8 6/4/2015 17. FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt Reality bites, May 2nd, 2015 @ 7:52am insightful funny report FBI = Rogue agency run by traitors The entire agency should be shut down and its employee's put in jail awaiting trial and execution. Not one of them worth saving. It was rogue right from the start and hasn't deviated from its planned course even once. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 18. Anonymous Coward, May 2nd, 2015 @ 8:01am   insightful funny report not that hard to figure out what stingrays are capable of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD1ngJ85vWM &index=38&list=PLwibn_3po6c8nIzgDyWdLpohPWeZ7dIz5 I wish Tim and the other TD authors would spend a few hours with this playlist and take some serious notes- It would improve their reporting on these subjects by orders of magnitude. The info is out there, right in plain sight. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 19. Uriel-238 (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 10:30am   insightful funny report Dear Muckrock: GFY. Thanks, FBI. That seems to be the whole point of this exercise. I'd love it to be used as a case example to argue against FOIA redactions, not that our DoJ GaFF. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 20. Bergman (profile), May 2nd, 2015 @ 11:11am   insightful funny report I wonder... How would the FBI react to being treated the same way when they issue a subpoena? "We're sorry, but we don't have any documents responsive to the parameters of your subpoena, have a nice day." Somehow I suspect it would result in SWAT team deployments. The FBI typically insists on whole documents, unredacted even when parts of it are not part of the subpoena. I wonder how they'd react to getting a partially redacted document? Right. SWAT teams. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 21. Despiser, May 3rd, 2015 @ 11:16am   insightful funny report Transparency in the age of 0bama: Documents created by public employees with public funds on public time are "secret." Documents created by private individuals and businesses using private funds are required to be publicly disclosed. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 22. Uriel-238 (profile), May 3rd, 2015 @ 12:28pm   insightful funny report The age of Obama ...is very much a natural progression from the age of Bush + the Post 9/11 era. I'm pretty sure transparency in the age of Obama looks very much like transparency would in the age of Romney. Though Obama can be blamed for acknowledging that opacity and overclassificaiton are problems, and promising to do something about it and then not. I expect the next guy won't even acknowledge it, no matter whether it's Kang or Kodos. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 23. TM Lutas (profile), May 3rd, 2015 @ 1:08pm   insightful funny report FOIA is the wrong tool The right tool is to catch them spoofing a cell phone tower, documenting it, and only then asking if law https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150501/09393330847/fbi-hands-over-5000-pages-stingray-info-to-muckrock-redacts-nearly-all-it.shtml 6/8 6/4/2015 FBI Hands Over 5000 Pages Of Stingray Info To MuckRock, Redacts Nearly All Of It Techdirt enforcement has done it. When they deny, file a criminal complaint and a national security complaint because if law enforcement didn't do it, it was either criminals or spies. Then when these complaints pile up without action, use them to defeat the DA that is ignoring them. It's only when people start losing their job that this sort of thing will be handled properly and the weakest point is in the parts of the criminal justice system directly subject to the voter. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 24.   insightful Anonymous Coward, May 3rd, 2015 @ 3:04pm funny report haha The USA is a fucking joke. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 25.   insightful Dayne, May 3rd, 2015 @ 3:19pm funny report I was just thinking I would like to get a hold of a few of these, originals of course, and frame them. I have a feeling they would be great to have around when the great grandchildren start asking questions. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 26.   insightful Uriel-238 (profile), May 3rd, 2015 @ 4:59pm funny report The joke that is USA ...in contrast to whom? [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 27.   John Fenderson (profile), May 4th, 2015 @ 7:42am insightful funny report Re: The joke that is USA Saying "x" is a joke isn't a comparative judgement. It can be true even if there are no better alternatives. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ] 28.   insightful soillodge (profile), May 4th, 2015 @ 2:39pm funny report Worst M ad Lib. Ever. [ reply to this   link to this   view in thread ]   Add Your Comment Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here Name Email Get Techdirt’s Daily Email URL Subject Comment Options Save me a cookie Submit Preview Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (
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