Police in Seattle are claiming to have deactivated a “mesh network” that was installed in the city to allow officers to send large amounts of data between each other while in the field.

The reason? The system also contacts every wireless device in its radius like a cellphone or wireless internet modem allowing police to track civilians without their knowledge.

The network could also collect a series of data from the devices of citizens.

The SPD said they had “no bad intentions” when they installed the network and that they were going to disable the system until a policy was adopted by the city for what they consider proper use for the network.

However, residents told an alternative newspaper that their phones were still showing the internet boxes as connecting to their devices when they were within range of one of the system’s white boxes. Police later admitted the system was still on but not being used by police personnel.