Cell Site Simulator Ban
SIGN-ON LETTER FOR AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF CELL SITE SIMULATORS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
A.6143 Assemblymember Carroll/S.5825 Senator Brisport
April 2023
We, the undersigned organizations, support An Act to Prohibit The Use of Cell Site Simulators in Law Enforcement (A.6143 Assemblymember Carroll/S.5825 Senator Brisport and urge the legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, this bill.
Cell site simulators are surveillance devices that masquerade as cell phone towers to collect New Yorkers’ location data in bulk. Because phones think the simulator is an actual cell tower, the phones automatically ping the simulator while searching for a mobile connection. This allows the police to identify which phone number is associated with each phone and identify the approximate location of each device. Then, the police can use phone records to identify the person associated with each number. These devices can also intercept phone calls and text messages.
In 2020, reports uncovered that the U.S. Marshalls and the Drug Enforcement Administration asked the Justice Department for the authority to surveil Black Lives Matter protests. The common thread between these two agencies is their ownership of aerial surveillance technology outfitted with cell site simulators capable of identifying protestors via their mobile phone connections and tracking them afterward. This would not have been the first time law enforcement agencies potentially used cell site simulators against protesters; there have been allegations that authorities deployed these devices against Dakota Access Pipeline protestors in 2016 and Black Lives Matter protesters in 2014. The prospect of mass surveillance against political protestors is too great a danger to democracy—New York must ban cell site simulators.
This bill bans police use of cell site simulators and introduces remedies to deter the unauthorized use of the technology. First, the bill makes damages and injunctions available to aggrieved individuals. Second, the bill gives the state of New York the authority to bring cases on behalf of the public to curb the illegal use of cell site simulators. Finally, the bill ensures any information collected by a cell site simulator cannot be introduced as evidence against an individual in court.
By passing this bill, New York will take a major step to rein in unwarranted mass surveillance. We urge the legislature to pass, and the Governor sign, An Act to Prohibit the Use of Cell Site Simulators in Law Enforcement (A.6143 Assemblymember Carroll/S.5825 Senator Brisport).