"Hi, We're From the FCC and We Are Here to Search Your Cellphone"

Posted on May 21, 2009 by Aaron Wright

From the increasingly populated intersection of the Fourth Amendment and modern technology, comes this story from Wired’s "Threat Level."  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claims the right enter onto any property to inspect -- without a warrant -- any radio equipment, regardless of whether it is licensed or unlicensed.  In an interview with Wired, an FCC spokesperson claimed that the FCC’s right to inspect radio equipment extends to “anything using RF energy.”  This includes commonplace items like wireless internet routers, remote access car keys, and cell phones.  Additionally if any illegal or suspicious items or behavior are discovered or observed during a warrantless administrative search, these observations may be the basis for a criminal search warrant or arrest.  Despite some substantial disagreements about this application of the law, operators have been fined by the FCC for failure to allow such warrantless inspections.  The ubiquity of items the FCC claims it may inspect without a warrant, combined with the potential for such searches to lead to criminal actions, is causing privacy advocates to react with concern.  And with good reason, as this could be a prelude to the expansion of other types of administrative searches.

Links:

  • Cory Doctorow reports on the FCC’s inspection policy at BoingBoing here
  • The Federal Communications Commission’s homepage is here
  • The Federal Communications Commission’s “2005 Inspection Policy” can be found at their website here
  • The Federal Communications Commission’s order imposing a fine for failure to allow inspection of radio equipment can be found here or at their website here
  • John Byrne reports on the FCC’s inspection policy at the Raw Story here
  • Rouge Radio Research’s FAQ arguing the FCC lacks the power to inspect unlicensed radio stations can be found here
  • Ryan Singel’s report breaking this story at Wired, “FCC’s Warrantless Household Searches Alarm Experts”, can be found here

 

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Cracking Down: FCC Initiates Enforcement Action Against Hundreds of Telecommunications Carriers For Failing to Certify Compliance With Customer Privacy Rules

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Gabriel M. Helmer

On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an Omnibus Notice of Apparent Liability alleging that more than 600 telecommunications carriers have violated Section 222 of the Communications Act which "imposes the general duty on all telecommunications carriers to protect the confidentiality of their subscribers' proprietary information" and the EPIC Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) Order (22 FCC Rcd 6927), which requires each carrier to certify compliance with the regulations governing customer information.  FCC Chairman Michael J. Copps issued a public statement addressing the enforcement action and highlighting that the FCC "continued to mconsumer privacy protection a top priority.  The FCC seeks a $20,000 fine from each of the carriers (around $13 million in total) and has stated that it moderated the amount of the fines because the carriers were small companies and because this was the first year of the certification requirement (certifications were due March 1, 2008).  As the FCC warns in its official Notice, "[t]o the extent that we determine that the proposed forfeiture adpoted herein does not have the intended deterrent effect, future noncompliance will face more severe penalties." 

If you've been looking for signs of how the Obama administration intends to enforce privacy and information security regulations, here is one of a few early signs that federal regulators are under orders to step up enforcement efforts and are begining with the backlog of violations from 2008. 

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