Federal Government Ordered to Explain Why it Needs a Cell Phone Kill Switch

[Judi Lynn]

Federal Government Ordered to Explain Why it Needs a Cell Phone Kill Switch
Carey Wedler
April 28, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monday is the court-ordered deadline for the government to explain a secretive policy that allows it to use a “kill switch” on cell phone service among the population. The policy, adopted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2005, is called Standard Operating Procedure 303 and allows

“…for the orderly shut-down and restoration of wireless services during critical emergencies such as the threat of radio-activated improvised explosive devices.”

It allows the government to cut service “within a localized area, such as a tunnel or bridge, and within an entire metropolitan area.” The policy comes with a murky, questionable history.

The implementation of the policy was a reaction to the 2005 London subway bombing and was deemed necessary for national security. In 2005, all cell service in New York’s Hudson Tunnel was cut off for two weeks—a move that by the DHS’s own admission created

“disorder for both Government and the private sector at a time when use of the communications infrastructure was most needed.”

More:
http://theantimedia.org/federal-government-ordered-to-explain-why-it-needs-a-cell-phone-kill-switch/