243
submitted 1 week ago by Domino@quokk.au to c/technology@lemmy.world
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Tracaine@lemmy.world 66 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I mean...is that not assumed to be the default? Cell phone surveillance is pretty much just business as usual in this country is it not?

[-] roofuskit@lemmy.world 27 points 1 week ago

This is illegal without a warrant. And judges have been denying broad sweeping warrants that would cover such situations.

[-] Pulsar@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

We are in different times. This administration doesn't care about warrants.

[-] Anahkiasen@lemmy.blahaj.zone 17 points 1 week ago

It honestly doesn't care about "illegal" much either 😅

[-] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago

*so long as the perpetrator is of an appropriate skin tone or works for a government agency

[-] joelfromaus@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago

insert Family Guy skin tone terrorist meme

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

never did. us three-letter-agencies have been buying data to get around pesky laws for a while now.

[-] micka190@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Pretty sure this kind of thing has been illegal since before Edward Snowden became a whistleblower, tbh. The US Government hasn't cared about people's privacy and the laws surrounding it for decades.

[-] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

pardon me, sir, but this is illegal withou-

click

hey! Uncuff me! This is illegal!

car door shuts

Hey! Let me out of this car!

vroooooom

Where are we going!? You can't take me to jail!

arrives at jail

Dear family, they call this place prison, it looks like prison, and I've been issued what they're calling a "lawyer", but impossible as that may be considering they didn't have a warrant, I can only deduce that I've been kidnapped by a vigilante to a remote location pretending to be a prison!

load more comments (9 replies)
[-] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

Even though most of the comments here point out the obvious that phones are a risk, this kind of journalism is still important for spreading awareness and documentation of illegal surveillance for the record

[-] kautau@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Yeah lemmy is mostly a left echo chamber, which is generally a net positive. But someone like my cousin who still gets their news from Facebook but might want to protest now they are thinking about their views would benefit from this journalism

load more comments (42 replies)
[-] KbSez@piefed.social 18 points 1 week ago

If you attend a protest, you need to read this and follow it:

https://ssd.eff.org/module/attending-protest

load more comments (8 replies)
[-] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

once again.

do not take your phone to a protest

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 1 week ago

And cover your damn face.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago

So basically, one could go to ICE protest and troll with fake conversations about attack points and watch them scatter to control nonexistent issues.

[-] Snowclone@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

better be VERY coded language that a jury would agree is innocent in nature and intent.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

might be better to have a bunch of gibberish with a few named places.

They might think it's code and deploy there, and you're not actually making a legitimate threat they could come after you for somehow.

[-] Auth@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Yes, but they would probably arrest you instead.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] TheLoneMinon@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

One thing I'm noticing in these comments, and in a lot of comments threads is the "well yeah, duh. Everyone already knew that" and while I'm definitely in that camp and have done that myself, I am starting to wonder if there is danger there.

Like, this is a significant breach of privacy and trust and the kind of thing that we should be up in arms about. But we already assume the government is doing the worst movie villain shit imaginable, so when we have evidence of it we shrug it off as just another Tuesday.

Yeah, waters wet. We should still be alarmed when we see a puddle of it somewhere it shouldn't be. (I don't know if that analogy actually tracks but I'm sticking with it).

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

You're not wrong, but these days the number of members of the public that truly cares (to point of taking action) about privacy is an extreme minority.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

I mean who doesn't know this cmon

[-] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago
[-] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 2 points 1 week ago

Can you fix the markdown of the second bullet point?

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] cashsky@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

Could AI be used to create a bunch of useless chatter in the airways that they would have to sift through and waste their time? Maybe use AI for actual good.

[-] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

IMSI spoofing is a product of wireless telephony being an ancient (way-pre-internet) technology, and we're long in an era where law enforcement (or in this case law-enforcement coded) investigators don't have to obey laws, such as assuring due process, and unreasonable searches disqualifying evidence. Instead they're hunting political enemies, and every prisoner of the United States is now a political prisoner.

It also means we don't have to obey the law, and can start using all-frequency jammers in and around protests and ICE actions to level the playing field. (It will also interfere with regular infrastructure, but it's not like ICE or the current regime gives half a fuck about that.

All-frequency jammers are older tech and easier to build than IMSI spoofers, and are highly illegal since so much of our commerce and communications depend on radio. But the current FTC has also been captured and is failing to do its job.

Any Amateur Radio enthusiast will know how to make a jammer. And current battery technology would assure you could make a handful that are portable and powerful enough to shut down blocks and blocks of municipal communication. This is playing pretty hardball, but then ICE isn't playing by the rules.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] m3t00@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

if you've ever used a radar detector you know, people drive like they are always being watched. not often in my experience. doubt these dolts are real sophisticated. fear is their main weapon.

[-] Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Please dont take your fucking phone to a protest. Buy a burner if you must.

You will be tracked. And spied on. And facial recognitioned. Etc.

load more comments (12 replies)
[-] toast@retrolemmy.com 5 points 1 week ago

You probably wouldn't want to bring a phone to some types of events, but as the number of these events increase, the odds of you just happening to be close to such an event during the course of a normal day might increase. Maybe it's best if we turn off 2g reception on our phones. No reason to be swept up in warrantless sweeps if not necessary.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 week ago

IMSI catchers. It's known at least for 10 years now, that they get used on protests in US.

[-] FuckFascism@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Would a burner phone be susceptible to this kind of attack?

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 week ago

Yes, but then you get rid of it immediately. Also, don't activate it or have it on at home or any other place that can be associated with you. Only do so after paying with cash and at the location where you're going to use it then dispose of it.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

Sure but no phone also works.

[-] super_user_do@feddit.it 3 points 1 week ago

and they criticize china for this bruh

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] Hux@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

I wonder if it would be possible to extend the capabilities of the software to triangulate the location of a a Stingray or other false tower with a few more of those devices working in concert in the same area.

[-] imposedsensation@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 1 week ago

How does one build a scanner to detect anomalies consistent with IMSI catchers?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2025
243 points (97.3% liked)

Technology

73037 readers
648 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS