Did you know that everywhere around you are these wonderful cell towers that let your cellphone connect you to the world. Well not all of those towers you are connecting too are real cell towers. Some of them are nothing more than a Stingray device in a police car intercepting your phone call conversations and text.
I got a new Samsung Note 8 last week and I decided to load a Cell Spy Catcher on my phone just to see where and how often my 4th Amendment right is being violated by the police. Well let me tell you I was shocked to see how often these "Stinger" Devices are being deployed.
The police claim they use these Stingray Cell Phone towers in order to track drug traffickers, gang activity and even suspected murderers. Well That might be all well and good for some of you but for me it is not something that should be taking place in a country that espouses freedom held up by a Constitution. Particularly a Constitution that absolutely forbids illegal search and seizure of your property without a signed warrant that specifies what the Law enforcement agent has a right to look for and may in fact expect to find.
So today I decided to drive some Uber and Lyft. I call it Driving for Bitcoin, because what ever I earn goes into my Coinbase account at the end of the day. Well I was twice today caught up in the range of these Fake Cell Towers. I did a screen capture on my phone for both of them so I could share my experience with my fellow Steemians.
Look, if I am in an enclosed vehicle riding down the road talking in the phone to my wife or a friend I have a certain expectation of privacy. This conversation belongs exclusively to myself and the person on the other end. The use of these "Stinger" devices violates that right as they allow the police to collect not just the person they have under surveillance but it scoops up all the calls and text of any phone that has the misfortune to connect to the that FAKE CELL TOWER . You no longer can expect to have your phone conversations and text messages assumed to be private. Not any more.
So what can you do to stop this pervasive Unconstitutional surveillance?
Disable 2G On Android To Block Stingray Devices
- on your cell phone dial * #* #4636#* #*
- This loads a screen with info on your phone “Phones Device information”.
- Look for “preferred network type”, and click the arrow.
- Change your setting to LTE/WCDMA Only.
It should stay on 3G/4G/4GLTE and no longer hop down to the GSM 2G Data towers.
Rebooting your phone resets this information so you will have to turn it off each time you restart your phone. Now you have to turn your Google tracking off.
So now you are safe... Not on your life dude!
The police have evolved and now this won't stop all these attacks from LOE's on your 4th Amendment Constitutional right. Many of these "Stingray devices have had an upgrade to the "Hailstorm" version of the software that allows them to intercept 4G LTE Data. If you look at the two intercepts I show above, the one on the left, from 12:07 pm shows that indeed that Stingray devices has in fact been upgraded to "Hailstorm". Notice it shows that it is Network Data Type : LTE tower.
So How Can I Stop These Illegal Searches of My Phone Text and Conversations?
To my knowledge all you can do is use this software on your phone that I am using.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skibapps.cellspycatcher
The software has a Blacklist option that registers that cell tower and tells your phone to no longer connect to this tower.
Look this country will no longer respect your rights if it serves their purpose not too. It is up to you to guard your self and protect your property, including your conversations.
I hope my sharing this info makes you take notice of what is going on around you. Many things that you are likely not aware of. But you need to be aware. Just think about it like this, if you "stupidly" texted your Ethereum wallet's seed to someone or your self for "Safe Keeping" (pfft!) and some unscrupulous cop got hold if it by using one of thes eStingray Fake Cell Towers, not only was your conversation snooped, your crypto likely might be stolen. After all a LOE wiling to use one of these devices to spy on your conversations already does not give a shit about your rights or your property. Keep that in mind.
Stay safe and stay secure. You are you own best sentinel.
Just my two STEEMS Worth.
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