The StingRay cell phone tracker fits conveniently inside a briefcase and can intercept wireless communication signals by simulating a cell tower. Anything you do on a cell phone can be monitored by StingRay including phone calls, text messages, emails, and everything else that consumes data.
While this is great news for the good guys, it’s scary to think we’re all potentially being monitored.
StingRay is scarier than you think.
What makes StingRay even scarier is you don’t have to be a criminal for the government to monitor your cell phone activity. Because this device functions essentially as a cell tower, it intercepts every cell phone in range. So if you’re in the same vicinity as a terrorist or mafia boss, your calls could be monitored too.
Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about StingRay because it’s a secret – you can’t even buy it unless you go through some extreme measures. Law enforcement officials must also sign a non-disclosure agreement that stops any mention of the device. This is a good way to prevent information leaking into the wrong hands, but it creates a cloud of mystery for anyone who wants to protect themselves.
At $500,000, StingRay is a magical device that can’t be spoken about by the people who purchase it or understood by the people who know about it. Maybe it’s a police scanner or just a really strong microphone. Who knows? You can’t even compare it to other options because we don’t know what it is.
How Americans use their cell phones:
91% of American adults own a cell phone and many use the devices for much more than phone calls.
What if StingRay fell into the wrong hands?
The technology powering StingRay is expensive now, but it’s only a matter of time before anyone can afford it. And once that happens, no one will know they are being monitored or by whom. Anyone who owns a StingRay device could be quietly stalking you.
We push a lot of our data through cell phones and we just assume it’s secure. But there aren’t half the safeguards that are built into a PC. Cell phones are an important piece of technology; we need to develop better security and encryption for the future.
The best thing we can do right now is assume everything we do on our cell phones is public information. Don’t send or say anything you could regret. This is the only true way to be safe. I know this seems like common sense, but someone ruins their life because of a cell phone every single day.
Don’t let it be you.
