For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P., Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic Argue Mass Cell Tower Searches Are Unconstitutional
(New York, NY, 11/17/21) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a privacy and civil rights group, and the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic jointly filed an amicus brief with Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arguing police searches of cell tower data are unconstitutional. The filing came in Commonwealth v. Perry, supporting the defendant Jerron Perry’s appeal of his motion to dismiss evidence obtained through so-called “cell tower dumps.” The cell tower dumps obtained data on more than 50,000 individuals who were near cell towers at the time of the 2018 crimes.
SEE: Brief of Amicus Curiae The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project In Support of Appellant and Reversal
https://www.stopspying.org/s/Perry-Brief-FOR-FILING.pdf
S.T.O.P. - Commonwealth v. Perry Amicus Brief
https://www.stopspying.org/perry-amicus-brief
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly - ‘Cell tower dump’ ruling raises troubling questions
https://masslawyersweekly.com/welcome-ad/?retUrl=/2021/04/28/search-and-seizure-cell-tower-dumps/
“Cell tower dumps are sprawling, error-prone, and unconstitutional,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “With warrants this broad, it’s inevitable that Americans will get arrested simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When cell tower dumps backfire, they can send police on endless wild goose chases. And when these searches actually succeed, they’re even more dangerous. A court order that allows police to seize more than 50,000 people’s data undermines every privacy protection in our Constitution. With this tactic, every American’s cellphone is no better than an ankle monitor.”
“Police access to sweeping cell phone data can directly violate our Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Civil Rights Intern Fatima Zehra Ladha. “Cell tower dumps are a flawed, biased technology that leads to false arrests simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, especially for communities of color. These sorts of warrants should be outlawed not just in Massachusetts but everywhere to ensure public safety and protect our civil rights.”
“The Perry case poses a significant opportunity for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to shape Fourth Amendment protections in the digital context,” said Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinical Students Jess Valenzuela Ramírez, Jack Shaffery, and Reem Hussein. “In Augustine, the SJC became the first state supreme court to impose a warrant requirement on targeted CSLI searches – a requirement that became national law in 2018 when the United States Supreme Court decided Carpenter. Perry is the next step in the developing law around location-based surveillance. The question in this case is whether law enforcement can perform "cell tower dump" CSLI searches, where they indiscriminately gather location information for tens of thousands of people without individualized suspicion. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court has an opportunity to take the lead once again in curbing harmful surveillance. As law students, it is very exciting to engage with these timely legal questions and help amplify the position of organizations like S.T.O.P, who are committed to protecting civil rights.”
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, based at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, provides high-quality, pro-bono legal services to appropriate clients on issues relating to the Internet, technology, and intellectual property. Among other values, the Cyberlaw Clinic seeks to promote awareness and mitigation of the negative impact of power differentials and bias in technology and socio-technical systems. Harvard Law School students who participate in the clinic prepare for practice by working on real-world client counseling, advocacy, litigation, and transactional projects.
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn
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