Chicago Cell Phone Privacy Class Action Says CPD Practices Unconstitutional

A class action lawsuit has been filed against the city of Chicago and several police officials challenging the warrantless collection by the Chicago Police Department of private information from residents’ cell phones, in violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The cell phone privacy class action lawsuit also challenges CPD’s use of “cell site simulators” or “stingrays,” which are devices that act as fake cell phone towers in order to obtain information contained on cell phones.

“For example, cell site simulators have the power to obtain identifying information about cell phones, intercept phone calls or text messages made using the phone, reveal website browsing histories, and track a phone’s cumulative movements,” the cell phone privacy class action lawsuit says.

Plaintiff Jerry Boyle is an attorney and a volunteer legal observer with the National Lawyers’ Guild. According to the cell phone privacy class action lawsuit, his private cell phone was searched by a CPD cell site simulator at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day protest on Jan. 15, 2015.

Boyle states that he regularly attends protests to monitor police activity and to advocate on behalf of protestors. He claims that, at around 8 p.m. on the day of the MLK protest, at least one CPD officer used a cell site stimulator to search the cell phones in the vicinity. According to the cell phone privacy class action lawsuit, CPD did not have a warrant to search the phones or probable cause to seize the information.

“Notwithstanding the potential of cell site simulators to intrude on the privacy and property of law-abiding citizens, CPD has maintained a practice of deploying them without a warrant,” Boyle states in the cell phone privacy class action lawsuit. “CPD has also refused to implement any written policies, procedures, guidelines or training to prevent the misuse of cell site simulators by CPD officers.”

According to the cell site simulator class action lawsuit, these powerful devices do not collect the data of only one target phone. Boyle alleges a cell site simulator is capable of forcing all cell phones within its geographical range, which can reportedly reach more than a mile from the device, to transmit cell phone users’ personal data to the police.

“Accordingly, even when police are using the device to target a specific individual, the cell site simulator trespasses upon, accesses, and impacts the cell phones of a large number of bystanders,” the cell phone privacy class action lawsuit asserts.

By filing the Chicago cell phone privacy class action lawsuit, Boyle seeks to represent a Class of all persons whose cell phones were searched by CPD without a warrant through the use of cell site simulators since Jan. 12, 2015.

The cell phone privacy asserts violations of the 1st and 4th Amendments, failure to intervene, conspiracy, violation of the Illinois Constitution, invasion of privacy, indemnification, and other violations of Illinois law.

Boyle is represented by Michael Kanovitz, Matthew Topic, Ruth Brown and Josh Burday of Loevy & Loevy, and Craig B. Futterman of the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

The Chicago Cell Phone Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Jerry Boyle, et al. v. City of Chicago, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-00244, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.