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since some years already any app based solutions are useless in practice since they yield a huge amount of false positives or no results at all. The talk on cro

since some years already any app based solutions are useless in practice since they yield a huge amount of false positives or no results at all. The talk on crocodile hunter (an EFF software) goes into why that is so: https://www.pcmag.com/news/police-spying-on-your-phone-ask-crocodile-hunter https://www.pcmag.com/news/police-spying-on-your-phone-ask-c... edit: if you've ever spent some time sitting on a plane (non domestic) and your phone was on during the time-window when boarding is ongoing and just before the aircraft taxis to the runway, then there is a very good chance that you've connected to one of these before. It's a way to match known cell numbers of individuals where an arrest warrant has been issued (or otherwise individuals that are monitored) against actual passengers phones (who might be traveling with a fake ID). If somebody on your flight was ever lifted off the plane by LEA (but obviously has made it through security into the plane) they are very likely the target of such a dirtbox intercept.

gruez 5y ago
>If somebody on your flight was ever lifted off the plane by LEA (but obviously has made it through security into the plane) they are very likely the target of such a dirtbox intercept. You'd think fugatives won't bring their phones with them, turn them off unless absolutely necessary, or use burners.
- DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
  yeah one would think so! in reality huge number of arrests are made due to incredibly dumb mistakes (and not because LEO's used some super newsworthy hack).
- girvo 5y ago
  Most criminals aren't particularly forward-thinking. Those that are, usually don't get caught as often, so the ones you see are those that aren't. I used to break a lot of drug laws when I was an addict (I'll leave which ones up to your imagination, for obvious reasons) -- I used to be called paranoid by those I associated with as I refused to travel with phones, changed number and phone once a month, among other things. Unlike them, I was never caught and have no record. A lot of that is down to lucky, obviously, but the ones I know of who are still active and not in prison do similar things (burners, never have a device on them if possible, rotate burner SIMs constantly, use encrypted messaging, etc.). Anyway, its been years, but it's a lot less stressful to be sober and law abiding!

gruez 5y ago

>If somebody on your flight was ever lifted off the plane by LEA (but obviously has made it through security into the plane) they are very likely the target of such a dirtbox intercept. You'd think fugatives won't bring their phones with them, turn them off unless absolutely necessary, or use burners.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
yeah one would think so! in reality huge number of arrests are made due to incredibly dumb mistakes (and not because LEO's used some super newsworthy hack).
girvo 5y ago
Most criminals aren't particularly forward-thinking. Those that are, usually don't get caught as often, so the ones you see are those that aren't. I used to break a lot of drug laws when I was an addict (I'll leave which ones up to your imagination, for obvious reasons) -- I used to be called paranoid by those I associated with as I refused to travel with phones, changed number and phone once a month, among other things. Unlike them, I was never caught and have no record. A lot of that is down to lucky, obviously, but the ones I know of who are still active and not in prison do similar things (burners, never have a device on them if possible, rotate burner SIMs constantly, use encrypted messaging, etc.). Anyway, its been years, but it's a lot less stressful to be sober and law abiding!