Commercial-grade Stingray devices are not sold to individuals or private companies. The primary manufacturer, L3Harris, typically requires law enforcement agencies to sign NDAs that prevent them from even acknowledging the technology's use in court.

The difficulty of buying a Stingray is partly due to the legal minefield its use creates. Because these devices indiscriminately sweep up data from every phone within their range—including those of innocent bystanders—they are often viewed as "digital dragnets".

Rather than buying a tracker, privacy-conscious users can use tools like Rayhunter or Crocodile Hunter from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to detect if a cell site simulator is operating nearby.

Privacy advocates like the ACLU argue that using a Stingray to track a person's location without a warrant is an unconstitutional search.

Because legitimate Stingrays are out of reach, enthusiasts and researchers often turn to two other areas: building their own versions or creating tools to detect them.