How Cell-Site Simulators (Stingrays) Work and Their Privacy Implications
By
@eff
Summary
Cell-site simulators (Stingrays/IMSI catchers) are devices that impersonate legitimate cell towers to trick nearby phones into connecting to them. Law enforcement uses these devices to pinpoint phone locations with greater accuracy than phone companies, without needing to involve the carrier. The devices can log IMSI numbers and conduct general searches of all phones within range, raising constitutional privacy concerns as they operate in violation of basic protections.
Source
bskyHow Cell-Site Simulators (Stingrays) Work and Their Privacy Implicationssls.eff.orgKey quotes
· 3 pulledCell-site simulators, also known as Stingrays or IMSI catchers, are devices that masquerade as legitimate cell-phone towers, tricking phones within a certain radius into connecting to the device rather than a tower.
Cell-site simulators operate by conducting a general search of all cell phones within the device's radius, in violation of basic constitutional protections.
Law enforcement use cell-site simulators to pinpoint the location of phones with greater accuracy than phone companies and without needing to involve the phone company at all.
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