The constitutional right to privacy protects us against government overreach and oppression. This right is more important than ever.
Our daily lives are now stored in tweets, texts and Facebook posts. We need innovative and comprehensive laws to protect the right to privacy.
Today, the ACLU testified in Jefferson City in support of such a bill. Senate Bill 84, sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus (R-Lee’s Summit).
The bill regulates the use of Stingrays, also known as "cell site simulators" or "IMSI catchers." These invasive cell phone surveillance devices mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information. When used to track a suspect's cell phone, they also gather information about the phones of those who happen to be nearby.
Stingrays can help solve crimes, but they also pose serious risks to our right to privacy.
The government has an obligation to make sure the state doesn't spy on its citizens. Senate Bill 84 protects Missourians from unlawful, unreasonable, and overly broad cellular metadata searches.
The bill makes the use of Stingrays illegal unless the police get a narrowly written search warrant. Law enforcement must immediately delete all data gathered by a Stingray that is not related to the target of the warrant. This protects innocent people. Law enforcement must also disclose when they use Stingrays.
The bill is an urgent and necessary protection for Missourians.
Local law enforcement officials have proven to be all too eager to violate our right to privacy. For years, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department used Stingrays and lied to the public about it. This bill prevents that from happening again. Local police would face strict sanctions if they continued to violate the right to privacy.
Protecting your phone from Stingrays is part of a wider ACLU effort to defend privacy rights in the digital age.
In 2014, we supported an amendment to the Missouri Constitution, which protected digital data from search and seizure. That same year, we released a comprehensive study of digital surveillance in St. Louis.
When the government can find out everything about you without any oversight or accountability, our democracy falters. And we won’t let that happen in Missouri.