Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause, and some kind of reason why you need to tap cellular comms in the first place. If you're operating a deportation agency in the style of roaming gangs of officers, you're probably not going to want to wait for the courts to dismiss your brute-force attempts to find illegals behind every door you break down.
The anti-2G security measure is pretty much exclusive to a few high-end phones as far as I can tell. iPhones can enable it with lockdown mode (which also disables things like JIT and can make websites and app run slower), Google has added a toggle, and I think a few other manufacturers have it too, but you need support in the modem firmware to actually do anything with it.
Even then, 3G and 4G can also leak identifiers if you can fake being a base station. The identifiers are not as easy to obtain as on 2G, but there's a reason 5G added a masking feature to LTE. Especially combined with access to an SS7 capable line, you can pretty much replicate all of the 2G hacks with cellular tech at least up to 4G, maybe even newer than that.
Cellular firmware protection mechanisms seem to be targeting 2G exploitation so far. It'd be extremely unpractical (and probably impossible) to enforce some kind of "5G NR only" mode, but without such a mode you're going to be at risk of Stingray-like devices.
> Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause, and some kind of reason why you need to tap cellular comms in the first place.
In case folks hadn't been paying attention, probable cause isn't even worth their trouble when arresting someone these days.
> “DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to The Associated Press
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-race-baiting-lawsuit-wo...
Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause
Technically yes but there are back-room agreements to bypass this. I used to have warrants on my desk to set up call tracing in the 90's and eventually I was told to not require them any more and just leave test system and modems enabled logging disabled so agents could set up their own call tracing. The people I worked for had no skin in the game as they were all from the EU. I would be very surprised if this was no longer a thing. If anything I would expect it to be much simpler and more stream-lined by now, probably some HTTPS API end-point and some app on their phone.
In fairness to the agents some things are time sensitive like kidnappings / abductions. Provided logging is not disabled I think it is fine they have real time access if someone actually audits the logs and matches them up to incidents much like license plate queries by cops are supposed to be audited.
> The anti-2G security measure is pretty much exclusive to a few high-end phones as far as I can tell.
I've got it on my phone which I think is mid-market at best: moto g stylus 5g - 2023. Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. ~ $250 in 2023.
That's great to hear. Last time I looked around in the cheaper segment, very few phones seemed to come with the feature.
It's part of newer versions of stock android.