Forbes reported in September 2025 month the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using IMSI catchers (or “Stingrays”) to monitor people’s movements and communications. These “stingrays” force nearby devices to connect, allowing authorities to collect phone identifiers, track locations, and in some cases, intercept calls or texts.
This follows a July report of cell phone surveillance detected at an ICE protest in Washington state.
IMSI catchers don’t just capture data from specific targets—they scoop up information from everyone nearby. That means ordinary people’s phones can be swept into government surveillance without their knowledge or consent.
At Cape, we’re deeply concerned about this type of surveillance. That’s why we’ve directly supported the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) research into counter-surveillance technologies like Rayhunter, which helps detect these threats. Read about EFF’s findings, and Cape’s contributions, here.
Cape News:
- Stephen Dowhy on Risky Business: Our Head of Engineering discusses how Cape is pioneering privacy-first mobile communications and defending against telecom surveillance.
- Cape named a DC Red Hot Company: We’re honored to be recognized among the Washington region’s fastest-growing and most innovative tech ventures.
Mobile Security News:
- Surveillance vendor caught exploiting a new SS7 attack: Researchers found a company using SS7 exploits to secretly track phone locations.
- AT&T $177M settlement over data breaches: The telecom giant agreed to pay over data breach claims exposing customer records.
- Proton releases a new 2FA app: Proton launched a secure, open-source alternative to Authy and Google Authenticator.
- FCC court upholds $92M fine on telecoms: A federal court backed penalties against carriers for illegally selling customer location data.T-Mobile loses case over selling location data: Judges ruled the practice unlawful, rejecting T-Mobile’s defense.
- Study: travel eSIMs secretly route traffic: Researchers found some travel eSIM providers redirect traffic through China and undisclosed networks.
- Free Chrome VPN accused of spying: A popular free VPN was caught taking unauthorized screenshots and collecting location data.
- U.S. and allies declare Salt Typhoon hack a national defense crisis: A sweeping cyberattack attributed to Chinese hackers has escalated to a defense issue.
- AT&T data breach impacted millions: Hackers claim the breach exposed sensitive customer details.
- NYT on Salt Typhoon hack: New reporting details the scope and geopolitical impact of the breach.
- WhatsApp whistleblower lawsuit: A former employee alleges the platform misled users about privacy and data handling.
- Google smartphone surveillance case: A jury ordered Google to pay damages for unlawful surveillance practices in smartphones.
- Google smartphone surveillance case: A jury ordered Google to pay damages for unlawful surveillance practices in smartphones.
