Legislators propose checks on cellphone snooping

At least three Indiana state senators plan to introduce legislation that would ban police from gathering cellphone data without first acquiring a warrant.

Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday he would co-sponsor such legislation in the wake of an Indianapolis Star investigation that revealed the Indiana State Police had acquired a "Stingray" device for $373,995.

While State Police would not say how they intended to use the device, law enforcement officials elsewhere have said such equipment is a useful tool in fighting crime and terrorism.

But the suitcase-sized device alarms civil liberties and open government groups because it can track the movements of anyone nearby with a cellphone. The equipment also captures the numbers of people's incoming and outgoing calls and text messages.

The fact that State Police won't discuss what they do with the data they collect, or whether they have privacy safeguards, also concerned some lawmakers.

MORE: Indiana State Police tracking cellphones - but won't say how or why

"I'm not saying we should ban them totally," Steele said Monday. "But I think there's reasonable protections that our Constitution mandates and our society expects."

Other senators who expressed concerns Monday include Brent Waltz, Jim Smith and Mike Delph, all Republicans.

"The Indiana State Police, as do other police agencies across the country, uses a variety of investigative tools to apprehend people who engage in criminal acts," said a spokesman, Capt. David Bursten. "To publicly reveal our methods only makes criminals smarter about law enforcement techniques."

Citing concerns that providing any information about the technology would jeopardize the agency's ability to fight terrorism and investigate crimes, police officials declined to comment for Sunday's story in The Star. The agency wouldn't answer questions about how the device is used, what's done with the data collected, or whether police obtain a search warrant before activating the device. Other than a one-page purchase order, police also refused to provide The Star its contract with Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris Corp.

Widespread issue

A USA TODAY investigation, published jointly with The Star on Sunday, revealed that at least 25 local police agencies in the U.S. have contracts with Harris for Stingrays.

Police officials at other agencies across the U.S. told USA TODAY that they have to be so secretive to foil terror plots and catch criminals. Some said the devices are used in extraordinary circumstances and only to hunt for a single phone at a time, not to collect data from thousands of callers.

But the technology is often used with a simple court order, and not a warrant that would require detectives and prosecutors to demonstrate probable cause, a legal term meaning there is belief a crime occurred.

Court orders generally require detectives to show only that the data collected would aid in an investigation, a standard that's much easier to meet.

Steele said the secrecy from the State Police is disconcerting given recent revelations that the federal National Security Agency had been spying on American residents' cellphone data. Initially, he said, the federal agency insisted it wasn't spying as deeply into citizens' communications as was later revealed.

The state senator said he's worried Stingrays or other devices might be used the same way here in Indiana.

"If the agency is not forthcoming and disclosing what they can and can't do, then reasonable legislators have a right to suppose that they have the power to do a lot more than they're saying," Steele said. "I think also the fact the Stingray is bought with taxpayer dollars, the citizens have a right to know what's going on."

Steele said he would co-sponser a bill that Waltz, R-Greenwood, had introduced the past two legislative sessions to bar police from gathering cellphone data without a warrant. The bill at one point passed the Senate but didn't get a hearing in the Indiana House.

A spokeswoman for Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma and House Judiciary Chairman Greg Steuerwald, R-Danville, said the lawmakers were unavailable for comment Monday.

Gov. Mike Pence's press office didn't respond to questions about the issue.

Waltz said "there's absolutely zero safeguards in place in Indiana beyond the conscience of the person operating the machine to make sure Hoosier rights are protected."

"We are having an infringement on our civil liberties when these are used without a warrant," he said. "But now they don't want to own up and be honest about if they even have these devices. There's clearly something wrong with this picture."

Smith, R-Charlestown, said he would also introduce legislation requiring police obtain warrants before using Stingrays.

He said that after reading The Star's story, he added language to a proposed bill that would put similar checks on devices Indiana police have that allow them to collect license plate numbers on local roadways. His bill also sets limits for how long such data can be held by a department and creates rules for how it's destroyed.

Managing power

Smith said he thinks the bill has a good chance of passing given the fervor over the NSA spying revelations.

"We need to manage our government's power," Smith said.

Delph, R-Carmel, had similar thoughts. He said he's going to introduce a bill that would forbid any agency from spying on Hoosiers.

"We can't keep hiding behind national security as an excuse to violate the privacy of law-abiding citizens," Delph said.

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @ryansabalow.