Rhode Island House Committee Holds Hearing on Bill to Limit Warrantless Electronic Data Collection and Stingray Surveillance tenthamendmentcenter.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tenthamendmentcenter.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Titled the “Electronic Information and Data Privacy Act,” the legislation would prohibit law enforcement agencies from obtaining “the location information, stored data, or transmitted data of an electronic device; or electronic information or data transmitted by the owner of the electronic information or data to a remote computing service provider” without a warrant based on probable cause.
The proposed law would ban New York law enforcement agencies from purchasing or using cell-site simulators, commonly known as “stingrays.” These devices essentially spoof cell phone towers, tricking any device within range into connecting to the stingray instead of the tower. This allows law enforcement to sweep up communications content, as well as locate and track the person in possession of a specific phone or electronic device. Police often obtain and use stingray technology in complete secrecy and use it to track people and gather electronic data without a warrant.
Titled the “Electronic Information and Data Privacy Act,” the legislation would prohibit law enforcement agencies from obtaining “the location information, stored data, or transmitted data of an electronic device; or electronic information or data transmitted by the owner of the electronic information or data to a remote computing service provider” without a warrant based on probable cause.
The legislation would help block the use of cell-site simulators, commonly known as “stingrays.” These devices essentially spoof cell phone towers, tricking any device within range into connecting to the stingray instead of the tower, allowing law enforcement to sweep up communications content, as well as locate and track the person in possession of a specific phone or other electronic device.