The technology moves faster than the law. Here is the current state of play:
When police have physical possession of a device, they use forensic software to bypass encryption and map out the user’s history. phone tracking software used by police
They serve a warrant to Google (or other tech giants), asking: "Give us the unique IDs of every device that was in this block during this hour." The technology moves faster than the law
They operate indiscriminately, collecting data from every phone in the area, including those of innocent bystanders. 2. Location Intelligence & Ad-Tech Data United States (2018) generally requires a warrant for
Perhaps the most well-known tracking tool is the , often referred to by the brand name "Stingray."
The legality of these tools is a shifting field. While the landmark Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States (2018) generally requires a warrant for historical cell-site location information (CSLI), many agencies utilize loopholes by purchasing data from brokers instead of demanding it from carriers. Tool Category Example Providers/Tools Key Capability Stingray, Hailstorm Real-time location tracking & data interception Data Brokers Fog Reveal, Locate X Historical "pattern of life" analysis from app data Forensics Cellebrite, GrayKey Bypassing encryption to extract all device data Carrier Data Tower Dumps, Ping Tracking via service provider signal logs Mass Extraction | Upturn