The Four Pillars of Modern Law Enforcement Surveillance
Let's see some software and systems used to track people
In the contemporary landscape of policing, digital tools have transformed how law enforcement agencies track, identify, and investigate individuals. While some of these technologies are widely discussed, others operate with a high degree of secrecy. Here is an overview of four major surveillance systems—Stingray, Cellebrite, Clearview AI, and Fog Data Science—detailing their primary features and the inherent risks they pose to personal privacy.
1. Stingray (Cell-Site Simulators)
Main Features: The Stingray is a type of IMSI catcher, a device that functions by mimicking a legitimate cellular tower. It forces mobile devices in its vicinity to connect to it rather than the actual network. Once a connection is established, the device can intercept calls, text messages, and precise location data in real-time without ever needing physical access to the target phone.
Risks for Users: The primary risk of Stingray technology is its capacity for mass surveillance. Because the device emulates a cell tower, it collects data from every phone within its range, not just the device belonging to a specific suspect. Furthermore, its use is often shrouded in secrecy; law enforcement and prosecutors frequently avoid disclosing the deployment of Stingray devices in court records, making it difficult for defendants to challenge the legality of the evidence gathered.
2. Cellebrite (Digital Forensics)
Main Features: Cellebrite is a sophisticated digital forensics tool used to extract the entirety of a device’s data once it has been seized. Its capabilities extend far beyond simply viewing active files; it is designed to recover deleted data, uninstalled applications, and messages from encrypted apps that were not backed up to a cloud service.
Risks for Users: Cellebrite presents a total loss of digital privacy for anyone whose phone enters police custody. The software can retrieve information that a user believes has been permanently erased, regardless of how much time has passed since the deletion. This creates a high risk of “digital strip searches,” where personal information irrelevant to an investigation is laid bare for authorities to scrutinize.
3. Clearview AI (Facial Recognition)
Main Features: Clearview AI has built a massive facial recognition database by scraping over 30 billion images from the public internet, including social media platforms and news sites. Law enforcement uses this tool to identify unknown individuals by comparing a single photograph against this vast index of images.
Risks for Users: The most significant risk posed by Clearview AI is the permanent loss of anonymity in public spaces. Users do not need to have posted a photo of themselves to be in the database; if a third party captures their image and uploads it to the public web, that data is harvested. This enables a “perpetual lineup” where any person can be identified at any time by authorities using a single candid shot.
4. Fog Data Science (Location Intelligence)
Main Features: Fog Data Science operates by purchasing billions of location signals harvested from everyday smartphone applications. Through its interface, known as “Reveal,” the company provides law enforcement with a searchable database of device movements over time. This allows authorities to perform “area searches” to see which devices were present at a specific location or to track the historical movements of a specific device.
Risks for Users: Fog Data Science enables warrantless tracking of individuals’ movements. Because the data is purchased from commercial brokers rather than subpoenaed from a telecommunications provider, law enforcement often uses this “ADINT” (Advertising Intelligence) to bypass traditional Fourth Amendment requirements for a warrant. Users often have no idea which of the apps they use are “harvesting” this data and selling it to third parties, making it nearly impossible to opt out of this persistent surveillance.
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