“Federal law enforcement agents misled judges for years on what type of wiretaps they were carrying out when they requested permission for so-called ‘pen register’ searches, an email obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reveals. Instead of collecting data on incoming and outgoing callers (among other general information), the ACLU said that agents commonly used a vehicle-mounted technology called the ‘stingray’ that intercepts all nearby communications in order to pinpoint the location of a particular signal. The ACLU argues that these devices in effect resulted in a de facto wiretap, when that was not yet authorized.”
