LANSING – The Michigan State Police today fired back at claims that it has been using handheld machines called “extraction devices” to download from smart phones personal information from motorists they pull over, even if they’re not suspected of any crime.
The Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union last week said it was petitioning the MSP to release information regarding the use of portable devices that “can be used to secretly extract personal information from cell phones during routine stops.” The devices can reportedly download text messages, photos, video, and GPS data from most brands of cell phones. In its statement, the ACLU said it has been attempting to get more information about these devices for three years, CNET News.Com reported.
Now, the police department says claims about how it uses the so-called data extraction devices, or DEDs, are off-base.
“The MSP only uses the DEDs if a search warrant is obtained or if the person possessing the mobile device gives consent,” it said in a statement. “The DEDs are not being used to extract citizens’ personal information during routine traffic stops.”
As for secret collection of data, the police said: “The MSP does not possess DEDs that can extract data without the officer actually possessing the owner’s mobile device. The DEDs utilized by the MSP cannot obtain information from mobile devices without the mobile device owner knowing.”
The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.
The problem as the ACLU sees it, is that accessing a citizen’s private phone information when there’s no probable cause creates a violation of the Constitution’s 4th Amendment, which protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures.
To that end, it’s petitioning the MSP to turn over information about its use of the devices under the Freedom of Information Act. The MSP said it’s happy to comply, that is, if the ACLU provides them with a processing fee in excess of $500,000. That’s more than $100,000 for each of the five devices the MSP says it has in use.
The ACLU, for its part, says that the fee is odious, and that a public policing agency has a duty to its citizens to be open. “This should be something that they are handing over freely, and that they should be more than happy to share with the public–the routines and the guidelines that they follow,” Mark Fancher, an attorney for the ACLU, told Detroit’s WDIV.
As of yet there’s no suit, but one is likely if the MSP sticks to its proverbial guns and refuses to hand over information about how it’s using the cell phone snooping devices, without being first paid off. If litigation does come, the outcome may set a precedent that would have far-reaching effects, and might make a device that most of us carry a pocket battleground in the war of digital privacy.
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