information are you willing to risk to help
catch a criminal? For months, the KSL Investigators
have been asking about -spy
technology law enforcement
doesn’t even want to admit
they use.
Tonight.. Daniella Rivera
reports on what the high-tech
tool can do.. and what happens
to your information, if it
gets caught up in a digital
dragnet.
:28 - :38:45 - :491:22 - 1:27
2:09 - 2:162:38 - 2:454:50 -
4:55 5:51 - 6:00
On this night -- we’re in
West Jordan -- on an after
dark mission. You’re getting
an inside look at the
operations of VFAST -- a
specialized task force.... ...
going after Utah’s most
dangerous fugitives.
Daniella Rivera: THEY DIDN’T FIND WHO THEY WERE LOOKING FOR AT THAT HOME. BUT WHEN THE OLD
TRIED AND TRUE SURVEILLANCE
METHODS FAIL... POLICE HAVE
MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED TOOLS
THAT CAST A WIDE NET. AND EVEN
THOUGH THEY MIGHT NOT BE
LOOKING FOR YOU -- THEY COULD
STILL COLLECT INFORMATION
ABOUT YOU. YOUR DATA. AND YOU
MAY NEVER KNOW. Nick
Chournos: WE DON’T REALLY GO
INTO DETAIL ABOUT ANY OF OUR
INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES THAT
WE USE. There are four words
U.S. Marshal Nick Chournos
won’t say in this interview.
GFX "Cell Site Simulator"...
and the brand name --
"Stingray". GFX It’s a device
that looks like this... or, at
least it used to. No one would
show us what today’s models
look like. Danie stand up:
THE DEVICE MIMICS A CELLPHONE
TOWER LIKE THIS ONE, AND
FORCES YOUR PHONE TO CONNECT
TO IT, AND SHARE DATA. HANGING
OUT AT HOME OR TAKING THE DOG
FOR A WALK? YOU PROBABLY HAVE
YOUR PHONE WITH YOU. AND IF
POLICE ARE USING A STINGRAY IN
THE NEIGHBORHOOD -- YOUR
INFORMATION COULD GET SWEPT
UP. Connor Boyack: THAT
STINGRAY CAN THEN CAPTURE ALL
OF THIS INFORMATION ABOUT
EVERYONE IN THE AREA, NOT JUST
THE PERSON THEY’RE GOING
AFTER, BUT EVERYONE Connor
Boyack with the Libertas
Institute in Utah calls cell
site simulators a form of bulk
surveillance. Connor
Boyack: OUR PHONES ARE
BASICALLY TRICKED INTO
PROVIDING ALL THIS
INFORMATION. How much
information? We know police
can track your phone’s
location, and other devices
it’s communicating with. But
what about your browser
history? Can they see the
videos you’re scrolling
through on Instagram? What
about texts, calls and emails?
The true scope of the
stingray’s invasion of your
privacy -- is secret by
design. It’s been widely
reported that non-disclosure
agreements have been used to
keep it that way. But here’s
what a prosecutor with the
Utah Attorney General’s Office
said during a court hearing in
March about law enforcement
using this technology -- in
Salt Lake City. Kaytlin
Beckett: HE VERY CLEARLY SAYS,
’STINGRAYS BEING USED IN THIS
AREA, CAN PICK UP ALL CELL
PHONE CHATTER, ALL CELL PHONE
INFORMATION WITHIN A ONE MILE
RADIUS.’ THAT’S WHAT STINGRAY
DOES. Nate Wessler, with the
American Civil Liberties Union
says these digital sweeps...
go far beyond the physical
search of someone’s Nate
Wessler: POLICE ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO KNOCK DOWN EVERY
DOOR IN A NEIGHBORHOOD LOOKING
FOR A PARTICULAR SUSPECT. THIS
TECHNOLOGY IS THE DIGITAL
EQUIVALENT OF THAT IN
IMPORTANT WAYS. And he says
there’s not much any of us can
do to avoid it. Nate
Wessler: EITHER YOU HAVE A
FUNCTIONING CELL PHONE THAT IS
THEN CAN BE TRACKED BY A
STINGRAY OR YOU TURN OFF, YOU
KNOW, PUT YOUR PLANE IN YOUR
PHONE INTO AIRPLANE MODE AND
HAVE A PAPERWEIGHT IN YOUR
POCKET. THAT’S NOT A GREAT
OPTION. So how often are law
enforcement using this spy-
tech? Well -- that’s another
question they won’t answer.
GFXAnd the KSL Investigators
reached out to more than 40
agencies across Utah. Most
said they don’t use stingray
technology. Some admitted they
do, if not on their own --
through partnerships with the
feds. But the FBI, DEA and
U.S. Marshals would not answer
questions about it.
Nate Wessler: IT’S SADLY
COMMON, BUT I THINK
UNJUSTIFIABLE FOR POLICE TO
REFUSE TO ANSWER THOSE
QUESTIONS.The U.S. Marshals
disagree. Nick
Chournos: IF SOMEBODY KNOWS
OUR CAPABILITIES AND OR OUR
LIMITATIONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO
DEFEAT THEM. The KSL
Investigators found more than
a dozen warrants granting the
Marshal’s permission to use
stingray technology, in two
year period. This one shows
they helped salt lake city
police use a cell site
simulator to find Buk Buk, the
man now charged in the
shooting death of University
of Utah football player Aaron
Lowe. He evaded them for a
week... then was arrested
within hours after they used
the device. Most of these --
are for pretty serious cases
-- and claim investigators had
exhausted other options. But
we also found this warrant for
a woman who’d skipped out on
probation... in a shoplifting
case. The Marshals are NOT the
only agency using the
technology. But they’re the
ones we found with a
consistent paper trail... in
unsealed warrants.Chournos
says, they’re operating by the
book. When needed, they get
approval from a judge.
Nick Chournos: THE US MARSHAL
SERVICE IN THIS TASK FORCE
DON’T EVADE ANY RULES OR
REGULATIONS. Congress hasn’t
stepped in. GFX But in 2014,
Utah passed the most
restrictive state law at the
time -- saying police can’t
use cell site simulators
without a warrant. Rep.
Ryan Wilcox: WE DON’T WANT TO
GIVE GOVERNMENT THAT KIND OF
POWER. Republican
Representative Ryan Wilcox
sponsored that legislation,
and says, the challenge is
writing policy that balances
two competing interests...
public safety, and privacy. He
remembers a Utah law
enforcement officer telling
him back then, about accessing
cell phone data. Rep. Ryan
Wilcox: THEY SAID, WELL, WE
CAUGHT THESE OTHER BAD PEOPLE
FROM DOING THIS. WE CAUGHT
OTHER CRIMINALS That didn’t
sit right with him. Rep.
Ryan Wilcox: BECAUSE YOU ALSO
VIOLATED ANOTHER 2000 PEOPLE’S
PRIVACY Utah’s law also
requires law enforcement to
notify the owner of the
cellphone they’re targeting --
after the operation. But
whether that happens in every
case... is impossible to know
for sure. Danie: DO YOU
THINK THE AVERAGE UTAHN GOING
ABOUT THEIR DAY KNOWS THIS
TECHNOLOGY COULD BE IN USE?
Connor: THE AVERAGE PERSON HAS
NO CLUE THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT
HAS THIS ABILITY AT ALL.
Nate Wessler: IT IS VIRTUALLY
IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE, YOU’VE
BEEN SUBJECTED TO THIS KIND OF
SURVEILLANCE UNLESS THE
GOVERNMENT TELLS YOU. So what
happens to your information,
if it gets caught up in a
digital dragnet? GFXWell -- if
you’re not the target of the
warrant -- Utah’s law says
police should destroy your
data -- as soon as reasonably
possible. But - again -
there’s no way to check to
make sure that’s actually
happening. Connor Boyack: IT’S
VERY DIFFICULT PASSING A LAW
LIKE WE DID TO THEN BE ABLE TO
FOLLOW UP AND SEE IF IT’S
BEING FOLLOWED AT ALL.
DANIE studio tag: Privacy
advocates now believe Utah law
should go further -- and
require police agencies to
register these devices, and
then report back periodically
on how often they’re using
them and for what cases. Mike
and Deanie.