Who Is Tracking And Intercepting Cellphone Communications In The Heart Of Canada's Capital City?

The locations in black are where CBC/Radio-Canada detected IMSI catchers in Ottawa. The circles show the range the IMSI catchers could cover. (CBC)

CBC: Someone is spying on cellphones in the nation's capital

A CBC/Radio-Canada investigation has found cellphone trackers at work near Parliament Hill and embassies

A months-long CBC News/Radio-Canada investigation has revealed that someone is using devices that track and spy on cellphones in the area around Parliament Hill.

The devices are known as IMSI catchers and have been used by Canadian police and security authorities, foreign intelligence and even organized crime.

The devices, sometimes known by the brand name of one model, StingRay, work by mimicking a cellphone tower to interact with nearby phones and read the unique ID associated with the phone — the International Mobile Subscriber Identity, or IMSI.

That number can then be used to track the phone and by extension the phone's user. In some instances, IMSI catchers can even be used to gain access to a phone's text messages and listen in on calls.

Read more ....

Update #1: RCMP, CSIS launch investigations into phone spying on Parliament Hill after CBC story -- CBC
Update #2: Canada probes report of cellphone tracking near Parliament Hill -- Reuters
Update #3: Canada security agencies probe Ottawa cell-phone snooping -- AFP

WNU Editor: This is raising alarm bells among my friends in Ottawa .... and they have no clue on who is doing it.