Jordan Pearson at Motherboard reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been using "Stingrays," the mass surveillance devices that are International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers. The mounties have used the surveillance devices for at least a decade, surveilling thousands of Canadians without their knowledge, and storing that information. The devices act like fake cell phone towers to force every phone nearby to reveal their unique ID, the ID of the phone’s SIM card, and its carrier and country of origin, and sometimes texts and phone calls. Since they aren't targeted surveillance tools they pick up everybody's information, the good guys and the bad guys. “This technology is so privacy-invasive that it is essential we be given enough information to ensure that it is only being used lawfully and with respect for our Charter rights,” said Brenda McPhail, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s surveillance project. “Only then can we have a real debate about whether the benefits to public safety are at all proportionate to the profound privacy risks presented by this technology.” Tamir Israel, a lawyer for the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa said, “Our working theory was that originally that these devices were used in limited and extreme cases.... Now, we’re seeing them become tools of general use. Clearly, they’ve been planning for some time to use them for day-to-day mass policing.” Read the full story at Motherboard.