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Bluetooth Surveillance Tool Added to List of Known Cache of DHS’ Surveillance Technology

Loaded on Aug. 1, 2024 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News August, 2024, page None
Filed under: Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Application, Electronic Communictions Privacy Act. Location: United States of America.

by Douglas Ankney

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has an impressive cache of surveillance technology that includes, inter alia, automated license plate readers (“ALPR”) and cell-­site simulators (“CSS”). The latest tracking and surveillance revelation is that DHS and other law enforcement agencies have been using TraffiCatch since 2019.

Deployed in Texas, TraffiCatch detects WiFi and Bluetooth signals in moving cars for tracking purposes. Bluetooth devices consistently broadcast a Bluetooth Device Address that is either a public address or a random address. Over the lifetime of the device, public addresses do not change and are the easiest to track.

But more common are the random addresses that have multiple levels of privacy. These addresses change regularly. Unless a Bluetooth device with a random address has paired with a device that has a public address, it is hard to track. However, Jenoptik, the manufacturer of TraffiCatch, reports that data derived from Bluetooth is combined with ALPR, permitting law enforcement to track individuals who switch vehicles and change license plates.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) is already notoriously known for using CSS in violation of the law. CSS are devices that masquerade as legitimate cellphone towers, prompting cellphones within a certain radius to connect to the CSS instead of legitimate phone towers. The subterfuge allows law enforcement to track the user and his or her device. According to a report from DHS’s Inspector General, ICE and other agencies conduct surveillance using CSS without proper authorization and in violation of the law.   

Source: EFF.org

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  1. Demonstrable Remorse, Psychiatric Diagnoses, and Alternatives to Incarceration, by Casey Bastian
  2. New Mexico Supreme Court Revises Rules Governing Pretrial Release, by Douglas Ankney
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  4. Down with Big Brother: Warrantless Surveillance Makes a Mockery of the Constitution, by Nisha Whitehead, John W. Whitehead
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  9. FBI Encourages Use of Controversial Surveillance Program Despite Misuse, by Jo Ellen Nott
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  13. Don’t Stand Too Close to First Responders Under New Florida Law, by Douglas Ankney
  14. First Circuit: Sentencing May Not Be Based Upon Unreliable Hearsay Testimony, by Anthony Accurso
  15. California Supreme Court: Presence in High Crime Area and Desire to Avoid Contact With Police Does Not Amount to Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Detention for Suspected Criminal Activity, by Sam Rutherford
  16. College and Post-Carceral Job Searches, by Michael Thompson
  17. Kansas Supreme Court Severs ‘Noisy Conduct’ Law as Unconstitutionally Overbroad, by David Reutter
  18. Big Money and Massive Surveillance: The Finance Industry’s Partnership With Federal Law Enforcement, by Douglas Ankney
  19. Researchers Discover Wire-Cutting Evidence Is Too Unreliable for Court, by Douglas Ankney
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  28. News in Brief
  29. Bluetooth Surveillance Tool Added to List of Known Cache of DHS’ Surveillance Technology, by Douglas Ankney

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