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posted by CoolHand on Thursday April 30 2015, @02:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the this-explains-why-we-never-have-bars dept.

The US government will be forced to explain why its cell network kill-switch plans should be kept secret today.

Under Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303, the US government – in particular the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – is allowed to shutdown cellphone service anywhere in the country, and even across an entire city if it feels there is a crisis situation.

However, the actual content of the policy remains secret, raising fears that it is open to abuse. For example, it's not clear who is authorized to make such a decision nor under what circumstances.

There are also groups concerned that killing of cellphone service during an emergency could make things worse.

In a frequently quoted example, San Francisco's rail system BART flipped a cell network kill-switch in several subway stations in 2011 amid a protest over a BART cop who shot and killed a drunk homeless man ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/12/bart_polioce_cut_mobile_phone_service/ ). Charles Hill allegedly threw a knife at an officer before the police opened fire.

The fact that the network shutdown was ordered against a public demonstration raised immediate concerns over how the policy is written and implemented.

In February 2013, sparked by the BART event and a refusal by the DHS to release the policy under a Freedom of Information Act request, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the DHS ( https://regmedia.co.uk/2015/04/27/epic-case-dhs-phone-kill-switch.pdf ) [PDF] in order to get it to disclose the details.

 
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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 01 2015, @01:17PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 01 2015, @01:17PM (#177450)

    There are also groups concerned that killing of cellphone service during an emergency could make things worse.

    crazed radicals, i'm sure. of course it makes things worse. the fact that they could convince anyone of the opposite just speaks to how brainwashed the population is. This is clearly treason. you're going to sacrifice my family member's safety in a crisis to make your job of controlling the masses easier? This is the same thing as the FBI and the president trying to get backdoors baked into phones to "protect america". America is the people with the phones you stupid treasonous $%^%#$! What, damaging the reputation of the whole nation's tech sector wasn't enough for you, now you want to just turn shit off?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 01 2015, @07:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 01 2015, @07:34PM (#177575)

    Crap like this is why I've picked up the amateur radio hobby again in the past few years, after letting it go for most of the '00s. Unless they plan on dropping an EMP or somehow jamming all VHF/UHF signals (either scenario meaning they also jam their own communications), I'll be able to reach other people in a crisis. They can't stop the signal!