US Spy Planes Allegedly Snoop On Phone Data

Modified planes used to track down suspects have been used by the US Justice Department for seven years, a report says.

US spy planes fitted with fake mobile phone tower "dirtboxes" - used to scoop up data from people's devices - have been operating for years, it has been claimed.

The technology is fitted to Cessna planes which operate out of five airports around the US, the Wall Street Journal reported.

They trick mobile phones below into linking up with them - before collecting the phone's unique registration information and their general location.

The planes have allegedly been operating for seven years, and the dirtboxes on board can even collect data from encrypted phones.

Once a target's phone is identified, connections to other phones are dropped.

A target phone can then be pinpointed to within three metres, or to a specific room in a building.

The five planes have the ability to cover the entire US mainland, and can collect information on tens of thousands of mobile phones in a single flight.

The Justice Department can get the location of a mobile phone with the assistance of service providers, but it is regarded as a slow and occasionally inaccurate process.

Similar devices are also used by intelligence officials operating in other countries and are sometimes used to locate terrorist suspects, the report claims.

The Justice Department has refused to comment on the existence of the programme