European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                High tech gadgets undercut privacy by Jay Arnold associated press Here could be a secret microphone on the Telephone line in the table lamp or in that briefcase sitting next to the desk the United states is caught in a wave of High tech snooping according to privacy advocates who blame cheap easily obtainable gadgets that can be bought through the mail in electronics stores or in spy  some examples one Way wireless intercoms these tiny devices which can be secreted inside any household electrical device such As a lamp or electric clock will transmit conversations to a receiver placed on the same electrical circuit such As from a conference room to a basement they re available at electronics stores in the United slates for $25 spy briefcases with a flick of their handles these Normal looking attache cases will record loud and Clear any sounds in a room for hours they cod  $600-900 Infinity transmitters attach one to a phone and Call it from another phone the bugged phone does nol ring instead it becomes a microphone thai will pick up everything within 30 feet at a Cost of less than $100 baby tenders these innocuous intercom systems allow parents to Monitor an infant s room from another part of the House. The devices also put out signals that can be heard by neighbors or by snoops. Voice activated tape recorders can be put under a bed to catch an unfaithful spouse or in a pocket to secretly record a conversation. Cost. $75. Devices like these plus counter bugging gadgets were on display in Washington at surveillance expo 89. Which organizer Jim Ross says was the first non government show to focus on surveillance and counter surveillance. One exhibitor promoted a Belt pager that actually is a tiny to camera. He has a transmitter on his Back and a Beeper on a Belt. Wherever he Points the Beeper he s broadcasting a picture to a  the device has a Range of a Lew Hundred feet but could be  Ross said. He also has one built into a tie clip and another that looks like a sprinkler tread that s a big seller he tells me Ross said. Another exhibitor showed How to use a touchtone Telephone to modify computer programs that control sophisticated office phone systems. The exhibitor used it so he could Monitor his Boss phone  Ross said. What we have Here is a massive assault on our constitutionally guaranteed right and expectancy of privacy said Rudolph Brewington. A Washington journalist who claims his sex Wile victimized him As part of a divorce proceeding with a voice activated tape recorder. Manufacturers say their devices All have Legal uses and that it is up to the buyer not the seller to make sure Laws Are not broken. But Brewington and others say manufacturers know these devices Are being used illegally and arc doing nothing to prevent it. Manufacturers have not developed any Type of inhibiting device on these products they merely sell them Brewington said. Even though manufacturers often include warnings about illegal use in their advertising they know exactly How the products Are being  Brewington along with another journalist. Robert Moore jr., was instrumental in gelling the . Postal service to begin warning customers in september that it is illegal to mail devices intended to intercept wire or Oral communications. A Section of the us code prohibits the manufacture Sale Possession advertisement mailing and use of devices primarily useful for the purpose of surreptitious interception of wire or Oral  the phrase primarily useful is a key Point of Contention for manufacturers who say their devices also serve legitimate purposes. But there is another catch in the Law which allows recording when one person is a party to the conversation and gives prior consent. The Law does not specify who the consenting party is the while secret microphones seem to be Ever More common not All bugging devices Lead to International incidents a when this apparatus was discovered last summer at the apartment of a soviet embassy staff member in London. Person taping or being taped. Ross a counter surveillance expert says the problem is larger than surreptitious listening. People Are not really attuned to the fact that they May be heard or eavesdropped  he said. Users of cellular and cordless phones often Don t realize their conversations Are being broadcast on radio Waves. Cordless phone users sometimes can overhear other cordless conversations and people using police scanners can intercept cellular phone Calls horror stories  Ross said Ross recalled a Man using a police scanner who intercepted a neighbor s baby tender. The parents had put the baby tender in the baby s room and the parents were behind a paper thin Wall in the next room. The baby was quiet but the parents weren t being quiet Ross recalled the scanner operator saying. What he was hearing should t have been broadcast All  1 v i Don t suppose you want to hear about my bad Back no one does it ranks right up there with my 800 slides of the bears in the smokes. I d even go one step further and say that talking about one s Back is probably the Miracle tranquil Izer of the Century. Nothing else is available Over the counter that so effectively numbs the brain there should be a warning about its Only Side effect Don t drive Lor three hours after hearing about a bad Back. Lying Here in a supine position for the last two weeks i be tried to figure out Why there can be a thousand Points of Light for people who show courage and compassion and not so much As a lighted match for Hose with a painful Back. The Only thing i can figure out is that people never Strain their backs doing anything that benefits Mankind. They do it either by lifting a car or a building or something stupid. My bad Back started two weeks ago when i lifted a pot _ wait Don t turn the Page. I Don t have to go Back that Lar in you Don t want me to. I la just Tell you about yesterday. I said to my husband who was passing by my bedroom door hello there. Did i Ever Tell you How bad i Felt for you when you had two disk operations no he said. I really Felt terrible i said. You seemed to be so helpless and i know you were in a lot of  Why Are you bringing it up now because i can t lift the toilet lid. I hate to ask. But while you re Down there could you possibly get my glasses a Towel and turn Over my bedroom Slipper that s on its Back Man was never meant to walk upright he grumbled. I Haven t walked upright in two weeks. You did t notice me crawling under tables in the Kitchen everyone has Back  he said it s like the common cold " except mine is a Little different As his eyes glazed Over. I proceeded to Tell him every detail of the pain and my reaction to it. He has heard the same Story every Day for the last two weeks. He is beginning to look More like Bette Davis taking care of Joan Crawford in whatever happened to baby Jane it s Only a matter of time before he puts a dead rat on my luncheon tray. C 1989ermibommcli Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday december 24,1989