Public Outrage Over Seattle Police "Spy-Fi" Surveillance System
The Seattle police department's latest surveillance installation, which was put in place without the knowledge of the public, drew notice and then quickly ire after it was "accidentally" left on after testing recently. The new $2.7 million dollar system, built with a grant from Homeland Security, tracks any device that can connect wirelessly to a network, allowing police to triangulate exactly where that device (and the person using it) is. Fortunately, Seattle citizens noticed their devices were being tracked when notifications arose for wifi networks that were trying to connect. Welcome to the era of "SPY-FI."
Last week, Seattle’s The Stranger published an in-depth look at a little known new initiative taking place within the city that involved the installation of dozens of devices that would create a digital mesh network for law enforcement officers. The devices — small white-boxes equipped with antennas and adorned on utility poles — would broadcast data wirelessly between nodes so police officers could have their own private network to more easily share large amounts of data. As The Stranger pointed out, however, those same contraptions were able to collect data on internet-ready devices of anyone within reach, essentially allowing the Seattle Police Department to see where cell phones, laptops and any other smart devices operating within reach were located.The SPD told The Stranger previously that the system was not being used, but anyone with a smart phone who wandered through the jurisdiction covered by the digital nodes could still notice that their devices were being discovered by the internet-broadcasting boxes, just as a person’s iPhone or Android might attempt to connect to any network within reach. In theory, law enforcement could take the personal information transmitted as the two devices talk to each other and use that intelligence to triangulate the location of a person, even within inches.
Really, the system wasn't being used all this time? Just like I'm sure that the license plate readers on cop cars aren't actively being used, nor was the NSA's digital spying program actively being used. Ridiculous.
“SPD maintains it has not been actively using the network — it was operational without being operated, having been turned on for DHS grant-mandated testing and then never turned off — so shutting it down won't hamper any current SPD activities,” The Stranger reporter.According to The Stranger, the SPD will begin disabling the system immediately, although Whitcomb said it involves “more than just flipping a switch.”
Most likely this is just a stall tactic while the police figure out a way to erase the wifi networks appearing on people's phones. The system won't be shut down, it will merely disappear from public view. The RT article headline, which I drew this information from, says that the public outcry caused the police to deactivate the system, but as you can see, the system is still running. They didn't spend all that money to spy on residents of the city just to squander it during a public debate session.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
