Tyr-Ziu Saxnot
06-03-2015, 06:32 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-spy-planes-whos-mystery-man-robert-lindley-000736291.html
FBI spy planes: Who's mystery man 'Robert Lindley'?
The FBI has used surveillance planes in some 30 US cities during a recent 30-day period. Most of the aircraft are registered to a 'Robert Lindley.'
Christian Science Monitor By Peter Grier
23 hours ago
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a secret air force of light planes that conducts overhead surveillance for a wide range of law-enforcement matters in many, if not most, of the big cities in the United States.
That’s the bottom line from today’s big Associated Press report on the extent of activities of the FBI’s eyes in the sky. It’s a revelation that’s likely to feed the ongoing national debate about the extent of government snooping – including National Security Agency activities – and its implications for US citizens’ privacy.
It’s also possible this exposure will push changes in FBI procedures. Top US law-enforcement officials were already set on revealing more about agency use of one of the most powerful tools the airborne surveillance aircraft carry, secret cellphone tracking devices called “dirtboxes.”
Recommended: How well do you know the world of spying? Take our CIA and NSA quiz.
The Justice Department has “launched a wide-ranging review into how law-enforcement agencies deploy the technology,” reported The Wall Street Journal’s Devlin Barrett last month.
Federal law-enforcement use of planes for surveillance per se hasn’t exactly been a secret. The Wall Street Journal and some independent reporters said last year that the US Marshall’s Service used Cessnas to snoop on criminal suspects' phone activity. The aircraft carry electronic devices that mimic the cellphone tower signature of a particular service provider, fooling phones on the ground into connecting with them and transmitting unique registration information. The devices, known as dirtboxes due to the initials of the Boeing subsidiary which produces them, generally collect cellphone location data. They don’t suck up the contents of calls themselves.
But AP journalists took this information and went further. They noticed suspicious looking small planes circling in slow, counterclockwise circles over US cities, and in particular over Baltimore during last month’s civil unrest. They began tracing tail numbers, identifying antennas and other equipment on the planes, and uncovering a trail of fake companies used to hide the government origin of the flights.
They discovered that the FBI had used surveillance planes in at least 30 US cities, covering 11 states, during a recent 30-day period. These aircraft appeared to carry high-quality video equipment for filming activity on the ground. Some could be outfitted with “dirtbox”-like cellphone attracting equipment, though the AP didn’t specify how many of the flights they tracked might have involved such surveillance.
The FBI asked the AP to not disclose the names of the secret firms, saying it would just cost tax money to reestablish such fronts to protect pilots and planes. The AP declined, saying that the firms were listed in government documents and public databases. At least one shared an address with a Justice Department office.
Most of the aircraft registrations included a mysterious name, Robert Lindley, according to the AP. He appeared to have at least three distinct signatures, according to registration documents reviewed by reporters. Another name on some of the documents, Robert Taylor, seemed to have been written in handwriting similar to that of one of the Lindley patterns.
The AP called people named “Lindley” in the D.C. area but at press time hadn’t turned up anything.
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-spy-planes-whos-mystery-man-robert-lindley-000736291.html
Another link .
FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities
JACK GILLUM, Associated Press EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
Published: June 2, 2015, 6:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 planes’ surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge’s approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found.
Aerial surveillance represents a changing frontier for law enforcement, providing what the government maintains is an important tool in criminal, terrorism or intelligence probes. But the program raises questions about whether there should be updated policies protecting civil liberties as new technologies pose intrusive opportunities for government spying.
U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed for the first time the wide-scale use of the aircraft, which the AP traced to at least 13 fake companies, such as FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services. Even basic aspects of the program are withheld from the public in censored versions of official reports from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
“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.”
But the planes can capture video of unrelated criminal activity on the ground that could be handed over for prosecutions.
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.
At least 13 front companies that AP identified being actively used by the FBI are registered to post office boxes in Bristow, Virginia, which is near a regional airport used for private and charter flights. Only one of them appears in state business records.
Included on most aircraft registrations is a mysterious name, Robert Lindley. He is listed as chief executive and has at least three distinct signatures among the companies. Two documents include a signature for Robert Taylor, which is strikingly similar to one of Lindley’s three handwriting patterns.
The FBI would not say whether Lindley is a U.S. government employee. The AP unsuccessfully tried to reach Lindley at phone numbers registered to people of the same name in the Washington area since Monday.
Law enforcement officials said Justice Department lawyers approved the decision to create fictitious companies to protect the flights’ operational security and that the Federal Aviation Administration was aware of the practice. One of the Lindley-headed companies shares a post office box openly used by the Justice Department.
Such elusive practices have endured for decades. A 1990 report by the then-General Accounting Office noted that, in July 1988, the FBI had moved its “headquarters-operated” aircraft into a company that wasn’t publicly linked to the bureau.
I had no clue I was famous... Please, no requests for autographs. :laugh:
FBI spy planes: Who's mystery man 'Robert Lindley'?
The FBI has used surveillance planes in some 30 US cities during a recent 30-day period. Most of the aircraft are registered to a 'Robert Lindley.'
Christian Science Monitor By Peter Grier
23 hours ago
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a secret air force of light planes that conducts overhead surveillance for a wide range of law-enforcement matters in many, if not most, of the big cities in the United States.
That’s the bottom line from today’s big Associated Press report on the extent of activities of the FBI’s eyes in the sky. It’s a revelation that’s likely to feed the ongoing national debate about the extent of government snooping – including National Security Agency activities – and its implications for US citizens’ privacy.
It’s also possible this exposure will push changes in FBI procedures. Top US law-enforcement officials were already set on revealing more about agency use of one of the most powerful tools the airborne surveillance aircraft carry, secret cellphone tracking devices called “dirtboxes.”
Recommended: How well do you know the world of spying? Take our CIA and NSA quiz.
The Justice Department has “launched a wide-ranging review into how law-enforcement agencies deploy the technology,” reported The Wall Street Journal’s Devlin Barrett last month.
Federal law-enforcement use of planes for surveillance per se hasn’t exactly been a secret. The Wall Street Journal and some independent reporters said last year that the US Marshall’s Service used Cessnas to snoop on criminal suspects' phone activity. The aircraft carry electronic devices that mimic the cellphone tower signature of a particular service provider, fooling phones on the ground into connecting with them and transmitting unique registration information. The devices, known as dirtboxes due to the initials of the Boeing subsidiary which produces them, generally collect cellphone location data. They don’t suck up the contents of calls themselves.
But AP journalists took this information and went further. They noticed suspicious looking small planes circling in slow, counterclockwise circles over US cities, and in particular over Baltimore during last month’s civil unrest. They began tracing tail numbers, identifying antennas and other equipment on the planes, and uncovering a trail of fake companies used to hide the government origin of the flights.
They discovered that the FBI had used surveillance planes in at least 30 US cities, covering 11 states, during a recent 30-day period. These aircraft appeared to carry high-quality video equipment for filming activity on the ground. Some could be outfitted with “dirtbox”-like cellphone attracting equipment, though the AP didn’t specify how many of the flights they tracked might have involved such surveillance.
The FBI asked the AP to not disclose the names of the secret firms, saying it would just cost tax money to reestablish such fronts to protect pilots and planes. The AP declined, saying that the firms were listed in government documents and public databases. At least one shared an address with a Justice Department office.
Most of the aircraft registrations included a mysterious name, Robert Lindley, according to the AP. He appeared to have at least three distinct signatures, according to registration documents reviewed by reporters. Another name on some of the documents, Robert Taylor, seemed to have been written in handwriting similar to that of one of the Lindley patterns.
The AP called people named “Lindley” in the D.C. area but at press time hadn’t turned up anything.
http://news.yahoo.com/fbi-spy-planes-whos-mystery-man-robert-lindley-000736291.html
Another link .
FBI behind mysterious surveillance aircraft over US cities
JACK GILLUM, Associated Press EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
Published: June 2, 2015, 6:28 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 planes’ surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge’s approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found.
Aerial surveillance represents a changing frontier for law enforcement, providing what the government maintains is an important tool in criminal, terrorism or intelligence probes. But the program raises questions about whether there should be updated policies protecting civil liberties as new technologies pose intrusive opportunities for government spying.
U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed for the first time the wide-scale use of the aircraft, which the AP traced to at least 13 fake companies, such as FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services. Even basic aspects of the program are withheld from the public in censored versions of official reports from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
“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.”
But the planes can capture video of unrelated criminal activity on the ground that could be handed over for prosecutions.
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.
At least 13 front companies that AP identified being actively used by the FBI are registered to post office boxes in Bristow, Virginia, which is near a regional airport used for private and charter flights. Only one of them appears in state business records.
Included on most aircraft registrations is a mysterious name, Robert Lindley. He is listed as chief executive and has at least three distinct signatures among the companies. Two documents include a signature for Robert Taylor, which is strikingly similar to one of Lindley’s three handwriting patterns.
The FBI would not say whether Lindley is a U.S. government employee. The AP unsuccessfully tried to reach Lindley at phone numbers registered to people of the same name in the Washington area since Monday.
Law enforcement officials said Justice Department lawyers approved the decision to create fictitious companies to protect the flights’ operational security and that the Federal Aviation Administration was aware of the practice. One of the Lindley-headed companies shares a post office box openly used by the Justice Department.
Such elusive practices have endured for decades. A 1990 report by the then-General Accounting Office noted that, in July 1988, the FBI had moved its “headquarters-operated” aircraft into a company that wasn’t publicly linked to the bureau.
I had no clue I was famous... Please, no requests for autographs. :laugh: