Privacy advocates are lauding the decision of a Silicon Valley county to abandon the purchase of a cellphone surveillance device, declaring victory over widespread police use of the stingray technology that many see as invasive.  Officials in Santa Clara County approved the purchase of a stingray in February using federal funds. However, a deal with the device’s secretive manufacturer, Harris Corporation, fell through after “lengthy negotiation”.  “After lengthy negotiations regarding contracts terms, including business and legal issues, the county and Harris have been unable to reach agreement on a contract for the purchase of the system,” a Tuesday letter from Santa Clara’s deputy county executive, James R Williams, said.  The devices intercept cellphone signals to pinpoint the location of a phone, based on its unique international subscriber number. Problematically, the devices interrupt cellphone service and collect information from all cellphones in a given area, raising privacy and public safety concerns.  The federal government has supported the use of such devices through national security grants to state and local communities. Santa Clara had one such grant for $500,000. The “Hailstorm” system, a high-powered variant of the stingray device, which the county was interested in purchasing likely would have eaten up the majority, if not all, of the grant.  The FBI has used this anti-terrorism rationale espoused in national security grants to attempt an almost complete lockdown on information about the devices.  Related: Stingray spying: FBI's secret deal with police hides phone dragnet from courts  Local police are required to sign a wide-ranging non-disclosure agreement before acquiring a stingray. A Guardian investigation recently revealed that the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) requires police to avoid divulging information by dismissing criminal cases, avoiding search warrants and forwarding local open records requests to the FBI.  The NDA also bars police from telling local officials about the device’s capabilities, and therein lay the problem for officials in Santa Clara County. The secrecy led to a testy exchange between leaders and the county sheriff.  “I can’t even get a disclosure to the contents of the non-disclosure agreement, so we don’t even know what it is we have agreed not to disclose,” Santa Clara County’s supervisor, Joe Simitian, said at a meeting discussing the purchase, the San Jose Mercury News reported at the time. “It’s unlike anything I’ve previously encountered.”  Despite comments from the supervisor, the county went on to approve the device at a 24 February meeting. However, the deal fell through when the county was unable to negotiate terms with Harris.  “Stingrays are very invasive surveillance tracking technology and Santa Clara County was right to bring the issue of its acquisition to the Board of Supervisors and thoroughly consider the legal issues,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California said in a release on Wednesday.  It’s possible that negotiations failed because of the county’s unique working group tasked with developing a use policy around the stingray. Unlike many local governments, Santa Clara County has an “overarching county effort related to the development of policies concerning surveillance technology”.
Privacy advocates claim victory as Santa Clara County abandons plan to buy cellphone surveillance device after a ‘lengthy negotiation’ falls through