Justice Department cellphone tracking just got tougher. A policy update change issued by the Justice Department on Thursday states that "Federal law enforcement officers will now be required to obtain a search warrant before using technology that tracks cellphone locations," according to Forbes.
Probable cause must be established first by federal law enforcement agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, before they can use cell site stimulators or "Stingray" technology. The Stingray technology enables law enforcement to pin point a specific cellular devices' location.
"The policy is really designed to address our practices, and to really try to promote transparency and consistency and accountability - all while being mindful of the public's privacy interest," Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told reporters in announcing the policy change, according to Yahoo! News.
"We think that given the power of cell-site simulators and the sort of information that they can collect - not just from the target but from every innocent cellphone user in the area- a warrant based on probable cause is required by the Fourth Amendment," said Nate Cardozo, a staff attorney with the privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Local law enforcement is not covered under this policy update change, just Federal law enforcement.
"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, according to The New York Times. However, he added that Federal law enforcement could use extended rules in their favor to apply when working with local enforcements, with borrowed devices or devices purchased using federal grant money.
