AP Uncovers More Than 100 FBI Spy Plane Flights, Originating From Shell Companies Located In Virginia
from the if-nothing-else,-FBI-lacks-the-imagination-of-the-NSA-when-naming-things dept
It's not just the US Marshals Service flying spy planes over the US, loaded with cameras and/or cell tower spoofers. The flying "dirtboxes" of the Marshals came to light last year, and were swiftly neither confirmed nor denied by DOJ spokespeople, who also noted the flights that may/may not be happening are all perfectly lawful and very much not the now-(temporarily)-expired Section 215 program. (I am not making that last part up.)
Consequently, it comes as no surprise that another DOJ agency -- the FBI -- is doing the same thing.
The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology — all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned.The AP investigation tracked down documents relating to the FBI's fleet of spy planes, ones that hide the FBI's aircraft behind corporate registrations (i.e., not as easily traceable to the US government) and a variety of three-letter shell companies.
The planes' surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge's approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. The FBI said it uses front companies to protect the safety of the pilots and aircraft. It also shields the identity of the aircraft so that suspects on the ground don't know they're being watched by the FBI.
In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found.
Here's a screenshot of Cessna single-engine planes registered in the Bristow, VA area. (Bristow seems to be the "home" of federal spy planes.)
If this was just one name in a long listing, there would be nothing suspicious about it. But in a single page of search results, the following nonexistent companies can be found, all of them containing no more ownership information than a PO Box:
OTV LeasingA plane registered to PXW Services was spotted flying over Minneapolis, MN. The FBI may be able to hide its planes behind obviously phony companies, but it can't keep its flight data secret. The flights show obvious surveillance patterns, rather than giving any appearance of "normal" behavior.
OBR Leasing
PXW Services
KQM Aviation
LCB Leasing
NBR Aviation
FVX Research
RKT Productions
NBY Productions
PSL Surveys
NG Research (an exception!)
Despite the secrecy of the shell companies and the FBI's hesitance to discuss its spy tech, the agency claims this is not a secret.
"The FBI's aviation program is not secret," spokesman Christopher Allen said in a statement. "Specific aircraft and their capabilities are protected for operational security purposes." Allen added that the FBI's planes "are not equipped, designed or used for bulk collection activities or mass surveillance."Except that mounting a camera on the plane (as seen on the FBI plane pictured in this article) or utilizing an airborne Stingray device provides the FBI the opportunity to do both.
And, as usual, the FBI notes that all of its operations are perfectly lawful, even if the public can't actually verify for itself that this assertion is true.
The surveillance flights comply with agency rules, an FBI spokesman said. Those rules, which are heavily redacted in publicly available documents, limit the types of equipment the agency can use, as well as the justifications and duration of the surveillance.Then there's this:
The FBI asked the AP not to disclose the names of the fake companies it uncovered, saying that would saddle taxpayers with the expense of creating new cover companies to shield the government's involvement, and could endanger the planes and integrity of the surveillance missions. The AP declined the FBI's request because the companies' names — as well as common addresses linked to the Justice Department — are listed on public documents and in government databases.The fake companies used by the FBI can be "uncovered" through a simple Google search, which is how I arrived at the FAA's listings late last week, before the AP's story broke. (The line about the "expense" of dreaming up wholly-unimaginative "business" names and renting another block of PO Boxes is far too cute, though.) Sure, there's nothing explicitly linking the two (until now), but if the public can be watched in public areas, so too can the FBI's flights. All of this originated from tail numbers of planes seen circling overhead, the flight patterns of those planes and querying publicly-available databases. What's good for the FBI (no expectation of privacy in public areas) is good for the public. The FBI shouldn't be asking journalists to withhold publicly-available information, especially considering the only conceivable purpose it serves is to deprive the AP of evidence for its assertions.
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Filed Under: 4th amendment, fbi, imsi catchers, privacy, spy planes, surveillance
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surveys and taking photos
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Re: surveys and taking photos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yeRF7d6V60&app=desktop
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Re:
Yeah, sure. Try lieing to a federal officer. They can lie. You can't. Cf. Dennis Hastert.
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Not terribly bright...
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Re: Not terribly bright...
Mission Statement: We are really only taking close up pictures of buildings for our 3D version of Google Maps (Note: please ignore the planes that continuously circle in one spot, as they must have had the sun in their eyes, or ran out of film and had to change the canisters, or used the wrong ISO, or pitched when they should have yawed, or fell asleep, or anything else but definitely not a government mission).
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Re: Re: Not terribly bright...
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The best hiding place is in plain sight.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Not terribly bright...
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Oh wait... they didn't.
I severely doubt that Google (with retroactive immunity in place), caught up in such an "agreement" would be willing to shoot itself in its own head, just for the sake of "the people".
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Not terribly bright...
Assuming said known and established company(ies) could obtain the required security clearance(s) AND sign some serious non-disclosure agreements.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Not terribly bright...
You mean like AT&T?
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Re: Re: Re: Not terribly bright...
Somebody needs to come up with an analog to that "minutes until nuclear winter" clock the atomic scientists have. Minutes until "1984" is in place and functioning; I put it at five, now that Congress let Sec. 215 lapse. It's heartening, but we're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination.
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Re: Not terribly bright...
Luckily there are already private companies that engage in public aerial surveillance and are more than willing to have USG as a client!
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/07/a-tivo-for-crime-how-always-recording-airborne-cam eras-watch-entire-cities/
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Re: Not terribly bright...
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In other words the planes do not spy on everybody in the world all of the time, just a lot of people in a local area some of the time.
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Re:
SCOTUS: The judgment stands that it is ok to spy on U.S. Citizens through private third-parties, and violate same U.S. Citizens Constitutions Rights, as long as it is done only for "limited times".
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You've spoiled the suprise...
This is the stupidest statement ever, as the fact that everyone can hear their stupid planes circling overhead, and complain all the way up the chain until it even hits local news stations who can't get any answers either.
This has been going on for years all across the country:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/392941.shtml
http://www.reddit.com/r/nova/comments/2 bgj1p/plane_circling_over_mcleanlangley_area_last_few/
http://chpn.net/news/2009/09/08/why-is-that-pl ane-circling_9063/
http://claycord.com/2013/06/26/mysterious-plane-circling-around-claycord/
http://ww w.highstrangeness.tv/0-993-mystery-planes-continue-to-circle.html
http://www.news10.net/story/news/lo cal/sacramento-central/2014/03/18/mysterious-plane-circles-sacramento/6591669/
Plus, by using (allegedly) private companies, any metadata they collect was freely given to the (allegedly) third-party aircraft operating as cell tower spoofers, and as we all know any data given to a third party freely has no right to privacy collection from the government (at least according to them).
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Re: You've spoiled the suprise...
We don't yet really understand what Stingrays really can do. We know they force any phone which connects to them into 2G mode which is hackable.
Are they also hoovering off all the logs and metadata, personally identifying information, messages sent or received, and GPS data? We don't know 'cause they aren't talking. They leave it to us to speculate. I expect the worst, and hope for the best.
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- FBI
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The tormented emulating their tormentors and becoming even more cynically evil than them is a story as old as world itself, isn't it.
It's the only reason sometimes to me that would explain all the extreme spying.
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FCC License
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Re: FCC License
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Re: FCC License
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Semantic Error.
Actually, based on your next block quote, that's NOT what they said. They said that the flights "comply with agency rules." So, whether the agency rules are lawful is the real question here, and it's really anyone's guess.
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Hey now, you leave Mel Gibson out of this.
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Simple question
After you've thought about it for a while, those of you worried about foreign terrorists, it might occur to you that the FBI seems to spend a lot of time watching United States citizens and not much time at all watching foreign terrorists.
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Re: Simple question
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Re: Simple question
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Re: Simple question
Psst: "Drug War".
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https://archive.4plebs.org/x/thread/12605102/
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Re:
http://www.highstrangeness.tv/0-993-mystery-planes-continue-to-circle.html
Archive.org has it on the front page for that day, but no archive of the actual story:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050629082941/http://www.lodinews.com/
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maybe people will demand they be arrested or instead of waiting for someone else to do something about this, go and do it themselves before it gets to the point where police and other alphabet letter agencies start dragging people out of their homes for thought crimes against those in power.
It's only a matter of time. This has happened so many times in history that it is pretty easy to see what will happen next.
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all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned.
I wonder if there is a C&D letter from the CIA on the FBI's desk right now.
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Re:
I suspect that coup happened around the time of Truman or FDR. What we're seeing now is their attempts to herd us into our designated holding pens. Moo. Baah.
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Can't be trusted, no secrets, ever
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation
is loaded with details, from WW2 to MLK to VietWar protesters...it just goes on like that.
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