Justice Dept. Caught Scooping Up Civilian Data From Fake Cell Phone Towers

Washington, DC- The Justice Department is using fake cellphone towers on planes to collect metadata from thousands of innocent Americans without a warrant. The program is meant to target criminals, but the broad nature of the surveillance means that any phone that happens to automatically lock on to the tower’s signal will have its data collected, without any suspicion of criminal activity.

FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe commented:

“This is just more of what seems to be the guiding ethos of the federal government: duck the Fourth Amendment, collect data now, apologize later. We need dramatic and immediate surveillance reform, and we look forward to our class action lawsuit’s day in court."

FreedomWorks joined co-plaintiff Senator Rand Paul and lead counsel Ken Cuccinelli to file a class action lawsuit against the NSA spying program in February 2014.

FreedomWorks aims to educate, build, and mobilize the largest network of activists advocating the principles of smaller government, lower taxes, free markets, personal liberty and the rule of law. For more information, please visit www.FreedomWorks.org or contact Jackie Bodnar at JBodnar@FreedomWorks.org.