The use of Stingrays by United States law enforcement is an investigative technique used by both federal and local law enforcement in the United States to obtain information from cell phones by mimicking a cell phone tower. The devices which accomplish this are generically known as IMSI-catchers, but are commonly called Stingrays, a brand sold by the Harris Corporation.
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History
The United States Federal government has access to stingray-type technology since at least 1995. The Baltimore Police Department began using the devices in 2007. The New York City Police Department has used the devices since 2008.
Initially, the use of Stingray phone trackers was a secret, due to a number of non-disclosure agreements between individual police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the FBI entered into agreements with at least 48 police departments in the United States. In these agreements, the FBI allowed police departments to use the stingrays, while requiring police departments provide no information to either the public or the courts regarding the devices' operation or existence.
In December of 2012, the Electronic Privacy Information Center released documents which show the United States Department of Justice discussing the use of cell phone tracking equipment, including addressing unlawful interference concerns. More info on Stingrays was obtained in March 2013, when the American Civil Liberties Union released documents it obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. Stingray devices have been used in a variety of criminal investigations, from murder and kidnapping to misdemeanor theft.
The way law enforcement uses of stingrays has been criticized by a number of civil liberties groups, who have filed lawsuits against current practices.
Compared to other large cities, like Boston, New York City and San Diego, Baltimore, Maryland has a much higher use of stingrays. According a member of the Baltimore Police Department, the agency used stingrays 4,300 times since 2007.
Federal government
The official position of the US Federal government is that the use of Stingrays does not require a probable cause warrant, because they claim Stingrays are a kind of pen register tap, which do not require a warrant, as decided in Smith v. Maryland. The government notes that they do not intercept the actual conversation, only tracking identity of the phone and its location. The devices do have the technical capability to record the content of calls, so the government requires these content-intercepting functions to be disabled in normal use. In September of 2015, the US Justice Department issued new guidelines requiring federal agents to obtain warrants before using stingray devices, except in exigent circumstances.
State governments
In 2015, the state of Virginia passed a law requiring the use of a warrant when using a stingray, and Washington state proposed a similar law. In addition, California, Minnesota and Utah have also passed laws requiring warrants for stingray use.
Legal cases
In 2011, in the case of Daniel David Rigmaiden in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, the chief of the FBI Tracking Technology Unit wrote an affidavit defending the use of an unspecified pen register device. Information about the model or function was purposefully withheld, citing FBI policy; the letter assured the court that the device was legally compliant. A widely-cited story released by the Wall Street Journal described the device was described as a "stingray", along with basic information about how it worked. Much of the info on Stingray devices was provided by Ringmaiden himself, who looked for how authorities had discovered he was committing tax fraud.
In January 2016, in the case of United States v. Damian Patrick, a lawsuit filed in 2013, reached the 7th circuit court of appeals.
In April 2016, in the trial of Robert Copes, a circuit judge in Baltimore suppressed evidence collected using a stingray, saying the police were missing an necessary search warrant.
Also in April 2016, an attempted murder suspect, Kerron Andrews, filed a lawsuit alleging that the police's use of a stingray was an illegal search without a warrant. A Maryland appeals ruled in his favor, upholding the decision made in a lower court.