The Federal government gathers the data from Cessna airplanes and can cover most of the U.S. population. These devices typically trick phones into sharing its location data and revealing the phone’s identity. CNNMoney has independently confirmed that at least one federal agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has used this technology on planes since 2010, according to government documents. The planes carry a box that serves as a dummy cell phone site. That device mimics actual towers, duping nearby cell phones into connecting to it instead of a real phone company tower.

Source: CNN Money

Date: November 28th, 2014

Link (copy and paste into browser): http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/13/technology/security/federal-planes-spy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Discussion

1) If you have “nothing to hide” then surely you have “nothing to fear” from government surveillance like this. Why do you agree or disagree with this view?

2) What countermeasures could you take to avoid being identified by the Federal government’s flying cellphone tower?