Following reports this week of possible foreign entities spying on Americans’ cellular calls, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, today called on the FCC to crack-down on fake cell towers known as stingrays.
Stingrays are cell-site simulators that function essentially as fake cellphone towers. They allow their operators to trick nearby consumers’ cell phones into giving up confidential information that would normally be protected by consumers’ cell phone providers.
“Press reports surfaced earlier this week that the Department of Homeland Security had identified suspected, unauthorized cell-site simulators operating throughout Washington. More troubling, it appears that these cell-site simulators could be gathering intelligence on unwitting Americans on behalf of foreign governments. If these reports are true, it marks an incredible security vulnerability in the seat of the Federal government," the three Ranking Members wrote.
The Members continued: “[N]o action has been taken to date to actually address this problem. With foreign actors now potentially taking advantage of the Commission’s inaction, the FCC should act, consistent with applicable law and regulations, to investigate these allegations and address any unlawful use of cell-site simulators in the Capital and anywhere else they are used in U.S. soil."
The full text of the letter to FCC Chairman Pai is as follows:
The Honorable Ajit V. Pai
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Pai:
We ask that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) take immediate action under federal law to address the prevalence of what could be hostile, foreign cell-site simulators-or stingrays-surveilling Americans in the nation’s Capital.
Cell-site simulators function essentially as fake cellphone towers, allowing their operators to trick nearby consumers’ cell phones into giving up confidential information that would normally be protected by consumers’ cell phone providers.[1] Press reports surfaced earlier this week that the Department of Homeland Security had identified suspected, unauthorized cell-site simulators operating throughout Washington.[2] More troubling, it appears that these cell-site simulators could be gathering intelligence on unwitting Americans on behalf of foreign governments.[3]
If these reports are true, it marks an incredible security vulnerability in the seat of the Federal government. Critical federal agencies including those involved in national defense and intelligence operate in the Washington D.C. area, and these cell-site simulators could be surreptitiously intercepting the sensitive data of federal government employees at these agencies. Just as troubling, these foreign actors could be intercepting communications from American citizens. The FCC, however, has the ability to take action to protect Americans from this type of foreign government surveillance.[4]
As the agency in charge of managing the commercial airwaves, the FCC has the statutory power to stop the illicit use of cell-site simulators.[5] Specifically, the Communications Act prohibits the very type of unauthorized transmissions that non-licensed cell-site simulators rely on to conduct surveillance.[6] With no apparent evidence that these recently revealed unauthorized cell-site simulators are operating with an FCC license, it would seem the FCC need only to enforce the law to stop this foreign intelligence gathering.
When prompted in the past to address the use of cell-site simulators by domestic governments, the FCC has only created a task force to “develop concrete solutions to protect the cellular network systemically from similar unlawful intrusions and interceptions."[7] Consumer advocates have even filed legal complaints with the FCC asking them to take immediate action to address the use of such cell-site simulators.[8] Nevertheless, no action has been taken to date to actually address this problem. With foreign actors now potentially taking advantage of the Commission’s inaction, the FCC should act, consistent with applicable law and regulations, to investigate these allegations and address any unlawful use of cell-site simulators in the Capital and anywhere else they are used in U.S. soil.
We appreciate your assistance with this important matter and respectfully request a response to this letter forthwith.
Sincerely,
Eliot L. Engel
Ranking Member
Foreign Affairs Committee
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Ranking Member
Energy & Commerce Committee
Bennie G. Thompson
Ranking Member
Homeland Security Committee
cc: The Honorable Kristjen M. Nielsen, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
The Honorable John J. Sullivan, Acting Secretary, Department of State
The Honorable Brendan Carr, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
The Honorable Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
The Honorable Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
The Honorable Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
