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Is the government watching you?

Approximately 50 American law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals, have been exposed for secretly tracking former criminals, without a warrant, using “radar devices,” reports USA Today.

This new technology allows cops to “see” through walls and homes as a way to determine if someone is physically present up to 50 feet away.

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This practice has been in effect since 2012. Some of the world’s most known law agencies purchased the devices, made by L-3 Communications, for about $6,000 each. Until this week, U.S. courts were unaware, and it’s against the 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that police cannot use such high sensors without permission.

This kind of development is a bit scary because even if on the search for a an alleged convict, it is a violation of privacy. Authorities have already been caught using Facebook and Instagram to place innocent people in jail. In Denver, CO, where a radar device was used, a federal court argued “The government’s warrantless use of such a powerful tool to search inside homes poses grave Fourth Amendment questions.” A man had been jailed for violating his parole and was caught by a radar, and without a warrant.

As thoroughly explained by a USA Today breakdown, the Range-R tools, first made for troops in Iraq and Afganistan, and are “finely tuned motion detectors, using radio waves to zero in on movements as slight as human breathing from a distance of more than 50 feet. They can detect whether anyone is inside of a house, where they are and whether they are moving.” Apparently, it won’t work through metal, but “common building, wall, ceiling, or floor types” are very cooperative materials for this new high-level of spying.

Not cool.

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Hide Ya Kids, Hide Ya Wife: Did You Know The Government Could Be Watching You In Your Home?  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com