![]() "The template is likely to mislead judges who receive applications based on it because it gives no indication that the Sheriff’s Department intends to use a stingray," he wrote by e-mail. Nathan Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told Ars that this type of language is very unusual. ![]() Now, that same data can also be gathered directly by the cops themselves through the use of a stingray. In the pre-cellphone era, a "pen register and trap and trace order" allowed law enforcement to obtain someone's calling metadata in near real-time from the telephone company. It is believed that the below named persons and other unknowns are using the Telephone Lines in furtherance of the subject offenses and that the information likely to be obtained from the PEN register and the trap-and-trace devices is relevant to the ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the above named agency. and the disclosure of subscriber information.Ģ) I certify that the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department is conducting a criminal investigation of Crime in connection with possible violations of Crime Definition. In support of this application, he states the following:ġ) I am a detective for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Departmant and am requesting an Order authorizing the installation and use of a PEN register and a trap-and-trace device. ![]() or found during investigation of this case upon oral or written demand of agents of the San Bernardino County Sheriff‘s Department. for numbers called by the Telephone Line or numbers calling the Telephone Line. hereby applies to the Court for an Order (1) authorizing the use of a PEN register on the telephone lines currently designated by the numbers Telephone Number (The “Telephone Line”) (2) authorizing the use of a trap-and-trace device on the Telephone Line: and (3) requiring the disclosure of subscriber name and address, whether listed or unlisted. That old standby, a “pen/trap order”ĭetectiveName, a Detective for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The FBI and the Harris Corporation, the manufacturer of the device, have repeatedly declined to respond to Ars' specific questions. The SBSD also declined to produce policies, guidelines, training materials, nor the specific cases where stingrays were used. Just last week, the FBI released a statement regarding the use of stingrays, which claims the opposite of what its NDA with local law enforcement actually says. (This has happened in at least some known jurisdictions elsewhere in the country.) The documents sent to Ars by the SBSD's county attorneys also show that since acquiring a stingray in late 2012, the agency has used it 303 times between Januand May 7, 2015.įurther, the SBSD, like other departments nationwide, maintains a questionable non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the FBI that indicates that the agency will work with local prosecuting authority to dismiss cases rather than reveal information in court about stingrays. Either interpretation is profoundly troubling," he said. "Alternatively, it might suggest that the government just doesn’t care about legal authorization. "This is astonishing because it suggests the absence of legal authorization (because if there were clear legal authorization you can bet the government would be citing it)," Fred Cate, a law professor at Indiana University, told Ars by e-mail. The SBSD did not respond to Ars’ request for comment. This template application, surprisingly, cites no legal authority on which to base its activities. ![]() Over the last year, as the devices have become scrutinized, new information about the secretive devices has been revealed. For years, federal and local law enforcement have tried to keep their existence a secret while simultaneously upgrading their capabilities. Once deployed, the devices intercept data from a target phone as well as information from other phones within the vicinity. Stingrays, or cell-site simulators, can be used to determine location by spoofing a cell tower, but they can also be used to intercept calls and text messages. (In the letter, county lawyers claimed this was a warrant application template, when it clearly is not.) The SBSD is the law enforcement agency for the entire county, the 12th-most populous county in the United States, and the fifth-most populous in California. In response to a public records request, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) sent Ars, among other outlets, a rare example of a template for a "pen register and trap and trace order" application. Further Reading FBI now claims its stingray NDA means the opposite of what it saysThe sheriff in San Bernardino County-east of Los Angeles County-has deployed a stingray hundreds of times without a warrant, and under questionable judicial authority.
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