I
chose to blog about cell-site simulators, also know
as “Stingrays” or "IMSI catchers" as there have been controversial
cases where the laws or policies regulating the use of these devices have been
broken, putting our privacy at risk. The
article I chose to focus on discusses how recently, a Maryland judge has ruled
that another form of technological surveillance has been used improperly,
namely the Hailstorm manufactured by the
Florida-based Harris Corporation. The decision found that
the Baltimore City Police Department’s use of a cell site simulator without a
warrant constituted an unreasonable
search under the fourth amendment (Fortune).
Law enforcement agencies all over the country possess
Stingrays, which are
invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send
out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting the data of their
locations and identifying information. When used to track a suspect's cell
phone, they also gather information about the phones of countless bystanders
who happen to be nearby (ACLU). Although
these devices can be very helpful to law enforcement when under an
investigation, their use is often shrouded in secrecy. The data these devices are capable of obtaining
interferes with the protection of our privacy, creating a lot of controversial discussion.
In
an attempt to help increase privacy protection and to require higher legal
standards, the U.S. Department of Justice decided to enhance a policy that was
announced on September 3, 2015. This
policy routinely requires Federal
law enforcement officials to get a search warrant before using secretive and
intrusive cellphone-tracking technology. The policy also directs the agencies to
destroy data collected from non-suspects as soon as a targeted suspect is
located. Additionally, the policy
makes clear that cell-site simulators may not be used to collect the contents
of any communication in the course of criminal investigations. This means
data contained on the phone itself, such as emails, texts, contact lists and
images, may not be collected using this technology (Justice.gov)
Though this enhanced policy has made civilians feel more
protected about their privacy, there are still cases where these devices are
used illegally like the case in Maryland mentioned above. I find it horrifying
that our personal cell phone data is available to any one of these devices
without us even knowing! I don’t have
much to hide, but what if that information got hacked? I also find it astonishing that our federal
law enforcement continues to disobey the law in using these devices without a warrant;
they are kind of contradicting themselves…
I understand they are trying to ‘protect’ us against criminals but I
think there must be a better solution to this issue where we all can feel
protected in terms of both safety and privacy.
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