Back to News & Commentary

VICTORY: Judge Releases Information about Police Use of Stingray Cell Phone Trackers

Photo of stingray at bottom of ocean
Photo of stingray at bottom of ocean
Nathan Freed Wessler,
Deputy Director, 老澳门开奖结果 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
Share This Page
June 3, 2014

A Florida judge has sided with the 老澳门开奖结果 to order release of information about police use of 鈥渟tingrays,鈥 which are invasive surveillance devices that send out powerful signals to trick cell phones into transmitting their locations and identifying information. The Tallahassee judge鈥檚 pro-transparency decision stands in contrast to extreme secrecy surrounding stingray records in another Florida court, which is at the center of an emergency motion filed by the 老澳门开奖结果 today.

The 老澳门开奖结果 learned several months ago about a case where Tallahassee police used a stingray to track a phone to a suspect鈥檚 apartment without getting a warrant. Although the detective responsible for the tracking testified in court about using a stingray, in deference to the government鈥檚 demand for secrecy the court closed the hearing to the public and sealed the transcript.

The 老澳门开奖结果 filed a motion asking the judge to unseal the transcript, citing the public鈥檚 First Amendment right of access to court proceedings. In response, the government tried to justify continued secrecy by invoking the federal Homeland Security Act and other federal laws. As the 老澳门开奖结果 explained to the court, those laws have no bearing because this case involves state judicial records, and because the government has waived its ability to invoke broad secrecy arguments by already releasing significant information about its use of stingrays.

Late yesterday, the judge ordered unsealing of the entire transcript. The portion that the government had sought to keep secret is here. It confirms key information about the invasiveness of stingray technology, including that:

  • Stingrays 鈥渆mulate a cellphone tower鈥 and 鈥渇orce鈥 cell phones to register their location and identifying information with the stingray instead of with real cell towers in the area.
  • Stingrays can track cell phones whenever the phones are turned on, not just when they are making or receiving calls.
  • Stingrays force cell phones in range to transmit information back 鈥渁t full signal, consuming battery faster.鈥 Is your phone losing battery power particularly quickly today? Maybe the cops are using a stingray nearby.
  • When in use, stingrays are 鈥渆valuating all the [cell phone] handsets in the area鈥 in order to search for the suspect鈥檚 phone. That means that large numbers of innocent bystanders鈥 location and phone information is captured.
  • In this case, police used two versions of the stingray 鈥 one mounted on a police vehicle, and the other carried by hand. Police drove through the area using the vehicle-based device until they found the apartment complex in which the target phone was located, and then they walked around with the handheld device and stood 鈥渁t every door and every window in that complex鈥 until they figured out which apartment the phone was located in. In other words, police were lurking outside people鈥檚 windows and sending powerful electronic signals into their private homes in order to collect information from within.
  • The Tallahassee detective testifying in the hearing estimated that, between spring of 2007 and August of 2010, the Tallahassee Police had used stingrays approximately 鈥200 or more times.鈥

The judge鈥檚 decision to release the transcript demonstrates that the government鈥檚 attempts to hide basic information about stingray surveillance from the public are unreasonable. The decision is also a rejection of the federal government鈥檚 attempts to meddle in state public records matters (in this case, the FBI had asked the local prosecutor to keep the transcript secret, even though this was purely a local investigation).

When police engage in invasive tracking of our locations and communications, it is crucial that the public have access to accurate information so it can participate in an informed debate. The release of this transcript serves that goal.

Learn More 老澳门开奖结果 the Issues on This Page