Streaming
Web of Make BelieveEpisode 5 follows Daniel Rigmaiden, a cyber-surveillance whistleblower.
I never really wanted to commit crimes, Rigmaiden explains in Episode 5.
The crimes were a necessary evil to get around a system I didnt believe in.
The whole thing felt like a sham.
He also began filing tax returns for deceased people, pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
He lived like this for nearly ten years, but in 2008, he was arrested.
It bothered Rigmaiden that he was found out.
There werent any loose ends, Rigmaiden told TakePart.
As the series explores, to track Rigmaiden down, investigators used a cell-site simulator called Stingray.
Business Insider reported people were still unfamiliar withissues around cyber-surveillancein 2008.
He used the jails library and eventually made a dossier of his findings about Stingray.
Rigmaiden filed amotion to suppresshis case, claiming that the use of Stingray violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
This motion was denied, but he eventually did get the FBI to admit they had used the technology.
And after Soghoian passed Rigmaidens dossier on toWall Street Journalreporter Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, the Stingray became public knowledge.
Rigmaiden ultimately pleaded guiltyin April 2014.
“The reason they wanted to get rid of me was because I was doing all that work.
I was giving them so much work to do and it was pushing their resource limit.”
He added that he used to think tax fraud was a victimless crime.
InWeb of Make Believe,he says this remains an issue as smartphone use has become ubiquitous.
Alongside the ACLUs Washington state chapter, he helped draft a bill to regulate the use of Stingrays.
He also assists journalists looking to write on the topic.
