FBI Hands over 5000 Pages of Stingray “Info,” Almost All of It Redacted

Editor’s Note: Someone at the FBI is surely snickering over the fact that when someone turns in a FOIA request, they get charged by the page. How much did 5,000 worthless blank pages cost these American citizens who have the right to know if their government is violating the Constitution?

MuckRock has obtained a whole stack of Stingray-related documents from the FBI. As is to be expected, there’s not much left unsaid by the agency, which is at least as protective of its own Stingray secrecy as it is with that of law enforcement agencies all over the US.

There’s nearly 5,000 pages of “material” here, most of which contains only some intriguing words and phrases surrounded by page after page of redactions.

Want to know [REDACTED]’s thoughts on the possible legal implications of Triggerfish? Just close your eyes and allow your imagination to run free.

Here’s a quick reference guide that allows FBI agents to quickly match up their chosen “technique” with the appropriate legal standard and process.

That’s not to say there’s nothing of interest left intact. A few pages explain the FBI’s legal rationale for IMSI catcher deployment — including the fact that the Patriot Act expanded the reach of pen register orders to include not just numbers dialed, but also the location of the phone itself. This allows the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to route around one of CALEA’s (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) few limitations related to pen register orders: that service providers not be required to hand over subscriber location info.

(Read more at Tech Dirt)