Pallone, Other House Democrats Urge FCC Action on Stingrays
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., urged the FCC Thursday to investigate and address any “unlawful use” of “hostile, foreign cell-site…
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simulators,” commonly known as Stingrays, in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in the U.S. They raised concerns in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, after the Department of Homeland Security identified (see 1804040051) the cellsite simulators “throughout Washington.” The Stingrays “could be gathering intelligence on unwitting Americans on behalf of foreign governments,” the lawmakers said: “If these reports are true, it marks an incredible security vulnerability in the seat” of the federal government, particularly given the presence of “critical federal agencies including those involved in national defense and intelligence.” The commission created a task force in 2015 to address Stingray issues (see 1504290030), but “with foreign actors now potentially taking advantage of the Commission’s inaction, the FCC should act,” the Democrats said. The agency didn't immediately comment.