CovOps
Location : Ether-Sphere Job/hobbies : Irrationality Exterminator Humor : Über Serious
| Subject: UK Cops Are Trying to Remove Spy Gear Records from the Web Thu Nov 24, 2016 11:11 pm | |
| UK police forces have long shrouded their use of IMSI catchers in extreme secrecy. In October, a report in the Bristol Cable uncovered new evidence that several forces had bought such technology, which UK police refer to as “covert communications data capture,” or CCDC.
But, that doesn't mean police forces are going to break with tradition: some agencies have tried to remove evidence of their spending on IMSI catchers from the web, even though the publication of some of these documents is supposed to provide more transparency into the police and how it uses public funds. “Their insistence on secrecy is in stark contrast to shallow political promises around accountability. There is no question that these devices raise serious data protection issues for the thousands of innocent people who have their personal data collected by these mass surveillance systems,” Richard Tynan, a technologist from activist group Privacy International, told Motherboard in an email. Tynan added that UK police force's stance on IMSI catchers “reveals their contempt for transparency.” IMSI catchers work by pretending to be cell phone towers, and forcing phones in their proximity to connect. The devices then learn each SIM card’s international mobile subscriber identity, or IMSI. Some models of IMSI catcher are also capable of intercepting text messages and calls.
|
|