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Info about these cellular snoopers? [telecom]

The Michigan ACLU recently made allegations that the State Police purchased cellular scanners which snarf files right off the phones of people they stop. Without their knowledeg.

Anyone have more info on these products? Can they perform as well as the ACLU fears?

[newspaper]

The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations.

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.......

ACLU Seeks Records about State Police Searches of Cellphones

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan urged the Michigan State Police (MSP) today to release information regarding the use of portable devices which can be used to secretly extract personal information from cell phones during routine stops. ..... Several years ago, MSP acquired portable devices that have the potential to quickly download data from cell phones without the owner of the cellphone knowing.

MI-ACLU press release at:

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Reply to
danny burstein
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One of them is referenced in the article.

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Looks like it needs to be physically plugged into the phone, so I don't know about the "without their knowledge", unless that means the subject has no way of knowing what was done with their cellphone while it was in the hands of the police. The data dumps don't seem to be destructive, so it's quite possible that there's no way to tell what was done while it was out of your sight.

Dave

Reply to
Dave Garland

To follow up on the Cellebrite cell-phone snooping gear, here's a link to the user handbook for the equipment:

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Reply to
Dave Garland

There is another (short) pdf document on the site about Bluetooth. Basically someone needs to enable Bluetooth on the phone. Once so enabled, it's not clear if the someone needs to explicitly enable specific connection to the Cellebrite device. If not, then it looks like truly surreptitious downloading can occur.

The copy-and-pasted contents of the Bluetooth document (not responsible for their spelling errors):

+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Using the Bluetooth

On some phones, the UME-36PRO enables you to use Bluetooth instead of data cables for the extraction process. When you choose Bluetooth for the connectivity type, follow these instructions:

  1. Phone Settings

On the mobile phone, you must enable the phone to connect via Bluetooth, by turning Bluetooth capabilities on. In addition, you must set the Bluetooth services to 'Visible' on the phone.

  1. UME-36PRO Bluetooth Adapter

The UME-36PRO kit comes with a Bluetooth USB adapter, as shown below. Insert the Bluetooth adapter in either of the two USB ports at the top of the UME-36PRO, as shown below. Press to continue.

  1. Identifying the Phone via Bluetooth

The UME-36PRO searches for visible Bluetooth devices within its proximity, and provides a list of all devices that it finds. Select the appropriate device from this list. Use the keys to move between options. Press to continue.

The UME-36PRO then instructs you to enter "0000" in the phone to complete the paring between the devices. Once doing this, all data transfer between the UME-36PRO and the phone will be performed using Bluetooth.

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Reply to
r.e.d.

Whoops.

I just read my own posting more carefully. The Bluetooth document says "The UME-36PRO then instructs you to enter "0000" in the phone to complete the paring (sic) between the devices." I conclude that the person doing the snooping needs physical access to the phone even with (wireless) Bluetooth, and therefore if the phone's owner is present, that person will know the phone has been messed with.

Reply to
r.e.d.

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