Lawsuit demands information on use of covert cellphone trackers in Cook County criminal cases

Cook County prosecutors are being sued to provide records of criminal cases that have involved the use of covert cellphone tracking systems — devices that have drawn the scrutiny of the U.S. Senate and privacy activists.

Freddy Martinez, a Chicago-area resident in the software industry, brought the lawsuit Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, saying the state’s attorney’s office didn’t respond to his efforts to obtain the information through the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney Matthew Topic of the law firm Loevy & Loevy, follows a similar one Martinez brought against the Chicago Police Department. So far, the police have revealed to Martinez that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2005 on cell-site simulators made by the Harris Corp. in Florida. The devices, with names like StingRay and KingFish, capture cellphone signals. Continue>>>
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