IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal

Exclusive: Invoices reveal tax service, 13th federal agency to use secretive dragnet, upgraded device that pretends to be cellphone tower to gather metadata

Invoices obtained following a request under the Freedom of Information Act show purchases made in 2009 and 2012 by the federal tax agency with Harris Corporation, one of a number of companies that manufacture the devices. Privacy advocates said the revelation “shows the wide proliferation of this very invasive surveillance technology”.


The 2009 IRS/Harris Corp invoice is mostly redacted under section B(4) of the Freedom of Information Act, which is intended to protect trade secrets and privileged information. However, an invoice from 2012, which is also partially redacted, reports that the agency spent $65,652 on upgrading a Stingray II to a HailStorm, a more powerful version of the same device, as well as $6,000 on training from Harris Corporation.

IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal

With police agencies like Baltimore coming under fire for their use of the stingray, this device is quite controversial. At the very least it rapes and pillages most Americans fourth amendment right. At worst the technology and its use ushers in a new era of dystopian big brotherhood.

But the IRS has upgraded stingrays?

For what?

All I have heard of from the IRS is they are underfunded, unorganized, and over the past year the tax code changes once or twice a day so they do not always know what's going on. Was this supposed to be used to spy on the tea party? They seem to investigate people on a whim but I can't seem to see this used given the outrageous tax fraud committed in the United States. Police departments get toys with surplus money. The IRS does not have that kind of surplus. This whole thing is so weird.

So.... Your ideas. What would they use it for? Ethically or not?

a reply to: Sillyosaurus

I didn't know there was an upgraded version called the "Hailstorm" or that there was a "Stingray II." So they have only one of these devices? Or maybe only one that we know about.

a reply to: darkbake

Stingray jams 3G and 4g signals forcing the phone to the leaky 2g network. The upgrade works on 4glte networks now that 2g is a legacy network that won't even be offered in most places. Most departments should have upgraded.

arstechnica.com...

Why can't they just stick to screwing up our Tax Returns.

I thought the IRS keeps claiming to be broke.

But, they spend our money on Vegas parties and Spook Cell towers.

Time to end this out of control Agency.

This thing detects the stingers. The phone companies really try hard to not let you install it or other apps like it. No surprise there.

There is a similar one called 'signal' for the iphone.

secupwn.github.io...
Android IMSI catcher

a reply to: Sillyosaurus

The IRS has a law enforcement division and has the same requirements as any other law enforcement agency when using such items.

With that said it looks like Congress has started impeachment proceedings against the head of the IRS.

a reply to: Xcathdra

Like how the epa has a swat unit. Makes sense now.

originally posted by: Sillyosaurus
a reply to: Xcathdra

Like how the epa has a swat unit. Makes sense now.

Just because I point out certain info does not mean I support the action / entity.

List of Federal Law Enforcement agencies

Craziness at a quick glance - click link for more agencies

Department of Commerce (DOC)

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
Office of Export Enforcement (OEE)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
National Institute of Standards and Technology Police (NIST Police)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement (OLE)
Department of Commerce Office of Security (DOCOS)
Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General (DOCOIG)

Department of Defense

Office of Inspector General (DODOIG)
Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)
Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA)
United States Pentagon Police (USPPD)
Department of Defense Police
Defense Logistics Agency Police (DLA)
National Security Agency Police (NSA)
Defense Intelligence Agency Police (DIA)
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Police (NGA)
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)

Department of the Army

United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID)
United States Army Military Police Corps
Department of the Army Police
United States Army Corrections Command
Army Counterintelligence (CI), United States Army Intelligence and Security Command

Department of the Navy

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
United States Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division (USMC CID)
Department of the Navy Police (civilian police)
Marine Corps Provost Marshal's Office (military police)
United States Marine Corps Police (civilian police)
US Navy Master-at-arms (military police)

Department of the Air Force

Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)
Air Force Security Forces Center (AFSFC)
Air Force Security Forces (military police)
Department of the Air Force Police (civilian police)

Department of Education

Office of the Inspector General (EDOIG)

Department of Energy (DOE)

Office of Inspector General (DOEOIG)
Office of Health, Safety and Security (DOEHSS)
Office of Secure Transportation (OST)

Department of Health and Human Services

United States Food and Drug Administration (HHSFDA)
Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institutes of Health Police (NIH Police)
Office of Inspector General (HHSOIG)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
CBP Officers and Border Patrol Agents at a ceremony in 2007

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
National Protection and Programs Directorate
Federal Protective Service (FPS)
United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS)
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Office of Air and Marine (OAM)
Office of Border Patrol (OBP)
Office of Field Operations (OFO)
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO)
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
Office of Intelligence
Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

United States Secret Service (USSS)

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (OLE/FAMS)
Office of Inspection (OI)
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHSOIG)

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of Inspector General (HUD/OIG) [1][5]
Protective Service Division (HUDPSD)

Department of the Interior (USDI)

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Bureau of Indian Affairs Police (BIA Police)
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Bureau of Land Management Office of Law Enforcement (BLM Rangers and Special Agents)
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)
Bureau of Reclamation Office of Law Enforcement (BOR Rangers)
Hoover Dam Police aka Bureau of Reclamation Police
National Park Service (NPS)
Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services (U.S. Park Rangers-Law Enforcement)
United States Park Police
Office of Inspector General (DOIOIG)
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Office of Law Enforcement
Division of Refuge Law Enforcement

Department of Justice (USDOJ)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) (since 1973)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Bureau of Investigation Police (FBI Police)
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
Office of Inspector General (DOJOIG)
United States Marshals Service (USMS)

Department of Labor

Office of Inspector General (DOLOIG)

Department of State (DoS)

Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS)
U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
Office of Foreign Missions
Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State

Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Office of Inspector General (DOTOIG)
United States Merchant Marine Academy Department of Public Safety (USMMADPS)
Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation - NHTSA (OFI)

Department of the Treasury
A Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police (BEP) patrol car.

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police (BEP Police)
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI)
Office of Inspector General (TREASOIG)
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
United States Mint Police (USMP)
Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP)

Department of Veterans Affairs

Office of Inspector General (VAOIG)
Veterans Affairs Police

Legislative Branch

Library of Congress, Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness (LOC)
Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives
Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate
United States Capitol Police (USCP)
United States Government Printing Office Police
Office of Inspector General, United States Government Printing Office

Judicial Branch

Marshal of the United States Supreme Court
United States Supreme Court Police
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Office of Probation and Pretrial Services (AOUSC)

etc etc etc...

a reply to: Xcathdra

No wonder bureaucrats never get anything done,they are too busy trying to remain viable.....

Keeping your privacy safe since, well, not at all.