(U.S.) Cops Turn to Canadian Phone-Tracking Firm After Infamous 'Stingrays' Become 'Obsolete'
https://gizmodo.com/american-cops-turns-to-canadian-phone-tracking-firm-aft-1845442778
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are scrambling to secure funding for new cellphone-tracking equipment after the maker of the controversial “Stingray” device quietly announced last year it would no longer sell equipment directly to local law enforcement.
L3Harris Technologies, formerly known as the Harris Corporation, notified police agencies last year that it planned to discontinue sales of its surveillance boxes at the local level, according to government records. Additionally, the company would no longer offer access to software upgrades or replacement parts, effectively slapping an expiration date on boxes currently in use. Any advancements in cellular technology, such as the rollout of 5G networks in most major U.S. cities, would render them obsolete.
“Harris Corporation has advised that effective June 2020 they will no longer provide cellular tracking technology and vital software updates,” the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) said in a report from May of this year...
...The MDPD and at least five other law enforcement agencies have turned to a North Carolina company named Tactical Support Equipment to supply new cell-site simulators known as the Nyxcell V800/F800 TAU—surveillance technology manufactured by a Canadian firm named Octasic...