In a first, a Manhattan federal judge presiding over a narcotics case has decided that drug evidence obtained through cell phone surveillance technology called “Stingray” won’t be admissible in court.
StingRay (also known as “Hailstorm” or “TriggerFish”) is an “IMSI catcher“ basically acts like a cell phone tower, and sends out signals which force cell phones to ping them back with information showing their owner’s location and other identifying information. If an agent is tracking a suspect, the pings kind of work like the game “hot or cold.” The closer you get to the phone, the stronger (or hotter) the pings will become.
Judge William Pauley on Tuesday ruled that defendant Raymond Lambis’ rights were violated when DEA agents used a Stingray without a warrant to locate and search his Washington Heights apartment in Manhattan during a drug-trafficking investigation.
According to court documents, the DEA sent a technician…
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