[upofadown]

So the lesson learned here is that the police should not keep any records at all. The fact that this particular department ended up recording use could in some sense be considered an error. Law enforcement has been doing secret surveillance since before ever. The Stingray stuff is just an attempt to continue doing what they have always done in the face of encryption.

It's probably time for society to have a discussion about this issue. Law enforcement can not protect us from ourselves if they don't know what we are doing. The War on Drugs pretty much mandates the use of secret surveillance for example. It's like asking a friend to help with your diet but at the same time forbidding them from looking in the cupboards or the fridge. If we don't like law enforcement snooping in our affairs then we should stop asking them to do so.

[wavefunction]

The police broke the law. Whatever equivocations you want to offer in their defense, they broke the law.

[upofadown]

That's sort of my point. If we want the police to stop breaking the law we should come out and tell them that. I really doubt that law enforcement likes being forced to break the very laws they are supposed to uphold. The police are our employees. We are being bad employers by asking them to do things that are impossible. Like most employees, they will do whatever it takes to do their job.