Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Seth. M. Stodder described to a house subcommittee last Wednesday a new policy that would allow the Secret Service to use a device called a ‘Stingray’ to track cellphones and their owners with or without a warrant.
The policy the department unveiled this week is similar to the one announced in September by the Justice Department, which includes the FBI.
Federal law enforcement officers are required to get a warrant signed by a judge before using Stingrays, except under emergency “exigent circumstances” meeting the constitutional standard for probable cause under the Fourth Amendment, but when there is no time to get a warrant.
Stodder cited the example of kidnappings, such as a recent case where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers used a Stingray to help locate and rescue a 6-year-old girl being held hostage by human smugglers in Arizona.
But Stodder said another allowed exception under the policy would let the Secret Service use Stingrays in “exceptional circumstances” without meeting the legal threshold for probable cause. In such cases, using the devices would require direct approval from “executive-level personnel” at Secret Service headquarters and the U.S. attorney for the relevant jurisdiction.
Source: My Way
The “non-specific threat” clause of this policy opens the door wide open for all kinds of abuses, exactly the reason you need warrants and adherence to the Constitution. This is yet another encroachment of the police state on our rights to privacy and due process.
