U.S. Court: DHS Must Say Why Emergency Plan to Shut Down Cellphone Service Is Legal

by Colleen Conley, TPNN: The Department of Homeland Security will soon have to disclose why it should be allowed to shut down cellphone service in the event of a “critical emergency,” while keeping any such plans to do so a secret, a judge ordered on Friday.

Standard Operating Procedure 303, which allows the government to render your phone useless under extraordinary circumstances, is documented as a “unified voluntary process for the orderly shut-down and restoration of wireless services during critical emergencies.”

Such an emergency could include the “threat of radio-activated improvised explosive devices.” SOP 303 was put in place shortly after a cellphone was used to blow up a portion of London’s subway system.

DHS is currently the only agency that has the authority to pull the cellular service plug. Specifically, the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee determines when cellular networks are to be shut down ”within a localized area, such as a tunnel or bridge, and within an entire metropolitan area.”

Until now, the NSTAC’s plan has gone largely unchallenged in the courts.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Friday demanded the government respond to requests from groups, such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC originally asked the court for the more government documentation about SOP 303 in 2011, when officials tried to stop a protest by shutting down service near a San Francisco subway station.

EPIC subsequently submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking to see the federal document granting DHS the authority. The government approved the request but heavily redacted much of the document. EPIC then sued the government for allegedly violating FOIA laws.

The group won the lawsuit but the government later appealed the court’s decision and the judge eventually sided with the government. The latest ruling states that the DHS must now provide its rationale for keeping the information secret from the public.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security refused to comment on the case.

---

Tags: U.S. District Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, DHS, emergency plan, Standard Operating Procedure 303, shut down, cellphone service To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!