Justice Department cellphone tracking, The Justice Department will regularly require federal agents to seek warrants before using secretive equipment that can locate and track cellphones, the agency announced Thursday, the first regulations on an increasingly controversial technology.
The new policy, which also limits what information may be collected and how long it can be stored, puts a measure of judicial oversight on a technology that was designed to hunt terrorists overseas but has become a popular tool among federal agents and local police officers for fighting crime.
Civil libertarians have expressed grave privacy concerns about the technology’s proliferation, but the new Justice Department policies do not apply to local police forces.
The device, commonly called a cell-site simulator or StingRay, tricks cellphones into connecting with it by acting like a cell tower, allowing the authorities to determine the location of a tracked phone. In doing so, however, the equipment also connects with all other phones in the area, allowing investigators to collect information on people not suspected of any crime.
The device is also capable of capturing calls, text messages, emails and other data. Until Thursday’s regulations, the rules for the use of that information and the duration it could be kept had not been detailed and varied across the department’s offices and agencies.
Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general, said Thursday that investigators could not use cell-site simulators to intercept content such as emails or text messages. And all information collected would be deleted daily.
“The policy is really designed to try to promote transparency, consistency, and accountability, all while being mindful of the public’s privacy,” Ms. Yates told reporters.
The new rules also aim to bring greater uniformity to the use of the technology, outlining new management practices, reporting requirements and a standardized approval processes for requesting a warrant to use the technology.
Other than in rare urgent cases, the policy will require that agents confer with prosecutors before using a cell-site simulator and then inform a judge of what the device will be used for — measures that have not been common practice.
The new policy applies to domestic investigations by the federal law enforcement agencies the department oversees, including the F.B.I., the Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It does not cover state or local law enforcement agencies, however, unless they are engaged in a joint task force with the federal authorities. Local authorities have widely adopted the technology to hunt thieves and other criminals, but do not often disclose its use.
That is sure to rankle civil liberties groups, which have fought for greater transparency around when and how the devices are used by law enforcement agencies.
“This is a strong step in the direction of protecting the constitutional rights of Americans,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff lawyer with the A.C.L.U. Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. But, he added, the Justice Department could have extended the rules to apply to state or local agencies that have borrowed the devices from federal ones or purchased their own with federal grant money.
Ms. Yates, the deputy attorney general, said she hoped local agencies would adopt policies similar in spirit to the ones laid out by the Justice Department. She also said that the Department of Homeland Security was working on a cell-site policy similar to the one she outlined.
The size of a briefcase, the technology is referred to by various names, including StingRay, Hailstorm and “dirtbox.” It is powerful enough to penetrate walls and is, in some cases, deployed from airplanes.
Local agencies purchasing the technology often sign nondisclosure agreements banning them from revealing almost any details about how it works.
That secrecy, which the company says preserves the device’s effectiveness, has set off a vocal debate about public disclosure practices in municipalities across the country, where the technology’s steep price tag can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The new policy, which also limits what information may be collected and how long it can be stored, puts a measure of judicial oversight on a technology that was designed to hunt terrorists overseas but has become a popular tool among federal agents and local police officers for fighting crime.
Civil libertarians have expressed grave privacy concerns about the technology’s proliferation, but the new Justice Department policies do not apply to local police forces.
The device, commonly called a cell-site simulator or StingRay, tricks cellphones into connecting with it by acting like a cell tower, allowing the authorities to determine the location of a tracked phone. In doing so, however, the equipment also connects with all other phones in the area, allowing investigators to collect information on people not suspected of any crime.
The device is also capable of capturing calls, text messages, emails and other data. Until Thursday’s regulations, the rules for the use of that information and the duration it could be kept had not been detailed and varied across the department’s offices and agencies.
Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general, said Thursday that investigators could not use cell-site simulators to intercept content such as emails or text messages. And all information collected would be deleted daily.
“The policy is really designed to try to promote transparency, consistency, and accountability, all while being mindful of the public’s privacy,” Ms. Yates told reporters.
The new rules also aim to bring greater uniformity to the use of the technology, outlining new management practices, reporting requirements and a standardized approval processes for requesting a warrant to use the technology.
Other than in rare urgent cases, the policy will require that agents confer with prosecutors before using a cell-site simulator and then inform a judge of what the device will be used for — measures that have not been common practice.
The new policy applies to domestic investigations by the federal law enforcement agencies the department oversees, including the F.B.I., the Marshals Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It does not cover state or local law enforcement agencies, however, unless they are engaged in a joint task force with the federal authorities. Local authorities have widely adopted the technology to hunt thieves and other criminals, but do not often disclose its use.
That is sure to rankle civil liberties groups, which have fought for greater transparency around when and how the devices are used by law enforcement agencies.
“This is a strong step in the direction of protecting the constitutional rights of Americans,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, a staff lawyer with the A.C.L.U. Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. But, he added, the Justice Department could have extended the rules to apply to state or local agencies that have borrowed the devices from federal ones or purchased their own with federal grant money.
Ms. Yates, the deputy attorney general, said she hoped local agencies would adopt policies similar in spirit to the ones laid out by the Justice Department. She also said that the Department of Homeland Security was working on a cell-site policy similar to the one she outlined.
The size of a briefcase, the technology is referred to by various names, including StingRay, Hailstorm and “dirtbox.” It is powerful enough to penetrate walls and is, in some cases, deployed from airplanes.
Local agencies purchasing the technology often sign nondisclosure agreements banning them from revealing almost any details about how it works.
That secrecy, which the company says preserves the device’s effectiveness, has set off a vocal debate about public disclosure practices in municipalities across the country, where the technology’s steep price tag can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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