Government oversight agencies have found that the Secret Service and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit have repeatedly failed to obtain the correct legal documents when conducting invasive cell phone surveillance. bottom.
The findings were released last week by the Inspector General of Homeland Security, who is tasked with overseeing the U.S. Federal Department and its many law enforcement agencies.
Cell site simulators (commonly known as “stingrays”) are surveillance devices used by law enforcement to impersonate cell towers and trick nearby cell phones into connecting to them, allowing police to monitor their real-time location. to be tracked. Some newer stingrays are thought to be able to capture nearby phone calls and SMS text messages.
However, stingrays are controversial because they trap all other devices within range, including those owned by people unrelated to the crime. developed to widely limit what is publicly known about stingrays and even what police can disclose. Prosecutors dropped the case rather than risk revealing unique technical details about how the base station simulator works.
The inspector general said federal agencies must first obtain a judge-approved search warrant before using cell tower simulators, citing how invasive they are. The Inspector General said warrantless use of the cell site simulator was authorized because of the need to act quickly to prevent the destruction of evidence, because of imminent danger or danger to life, or a national security threat. Or cyber attack. In such cases, he must apply for a court order within 48 hours of the agency deploying the cell site simulator.
In a redacted report, the Inspector General said the Secret Service and ICE HSI “did not always obtain court orders,” as required by their agency’s policy or federal law. increase.
Watchdog’s report noted two issues. First, the Secret Service and ICE HSI “misinterpreted” internal policies governing the use of base station simulators in emergency situations. In one case, ICE HSI said it did not believe a warrant was necessary because the parties “agreed.”
Another issue was how the Secret Service and ICE HSI used cell site simulators to support requests from local law enforcement. In one case highlighted by the inspector general, the county judge said he “couldn’t understand” why the prosecutor had sought an emergency surveillance order. This was because they did not understand the statute and the judge “thought it was unnecessary”, leading to numerous warrantless deployments. It accused ICE HSI of “failing to provide evidence” that HSI had applied for an emergency court order in one case deemed an emergency.
Both the Secret Service and ICE HSI have embraced Watchdog’s six recommendations. This included strengthening internal policies and procedures.
The compiled report does not reveal how many base station simulators have been deployed in recent years. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which enforces immigration laws and enforces deportations, is known to have used stingrays hundreds of times between 2017 and 2019.
In a blog post, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, criticized the report’s compilation. “The OIG should make this information public. ,” writes EFF policy analyst Matthew Guarria.
