Evidencing extreme overuse of controversial cell site simulator technology, Annapolis police deployed Stingray for the all-important purpose of catching a thief who'd
stolen $50 ... in chicken wings.
Stingray devices mimic cell towers, pinging phones in the area until they connect with it, instead of an actual tower. This allows whoever deploys it to collect not only metadata, but as was
recently revealed, the content of voice and text communications.
Even worse, Stingray cannot specifically target one subject's phone — so, when in use, the content of an entire area's electronic devices will also be collected.
Though legally that extraneous information must be discarded, the government's track record in frivolous surveillance leaves that legal restraint quite an open question, if not downright unlikely. Indeed, what we know about Stingray technology is the result of years of legal battles between privacy advocates and a government so secretive, police and prosecutors sign non-disclosure agreements in order to use it.
Prosecutors, even in serious criminal cases, astonishingly "have
agreed to drop cases rather than disclose information about the technology." This practice has done nothing to quell suspicions Stingray might be collecting more information than is understood — or that it may be used more frequently than strictures of law allow.
Comment: You know that Western Civilization is in trouble when individuals would consider using this "shock therapy" to assist them in getting over bad habits. What's worse it that this new product, the Pavlok, seems to just be a reflection of how many have come to accept and acquiesce to external conditioning.
For the larger implications of this, see the SOTT Focus piece: Transmarginal Inhibition