Stingray Surveillance Gets Strict New Rules: Warrant Required, Disruption Disclosures Mandatory

When law enforcement wants to track your phone’s location, they often use a device called a cell-site simulator—or a “Stingray.” These tools mimic cell towers, tricking nearby phones into connecting, which allows the government to pinpoint location and sometimes collect other data. The Cell-Site Simulator Warrant Act of 2025 fundamentally changes the rules of the road for these devices, essentially making their domestic use illegal unless law enforcement secures a highly specific warrant first.

The New Default: No Stingrays Without a Judge’s OK

This Act establishes a general ban on the domestic use of cell-site simulators. If an agency wants to use one, they must now convince a judge that a warrant is necessary (SEC. 2). This isn’t a rubber-stamp process, either. The agency has to demonstrate that other, less invasive tracking methods—like just getting phone records—have already failed, or that trying them would be “unlikely to work or would be too dangerous.” For the average person, this is a huge win for privacy: it means the government can’t jump straight to using advanced surveillance tech unless they can prove it’s absolutely essential.

Crucially, the bill also mandates that warrants must be narrowly scoped, specifying the exact area and time frame, with initial authorizations capped at 30 days. If the government gathers evidence illegally—say, by using a Stingray without a warrant—that evidence is generally blocked from being used in court. This provision creates a real consequence for agencies that skip the judicial process, which is a significant accountability mechanism.

The Real-World Catch: 911 Calls and Emergency Use

One of the biggest concerns about Stingrays is that when they mimic a cell tower, they can disrupt service for every phone in the immediate area. This can cause dropped calls, including emergency calls. This bill tackles that head-on by requiring law enforcement to disclose any potential disruption to emergency services—like 911, the national suicide hotline, or poison control—when they apply for a warrant. They even have to certify that a third-party lab has verified the accuracy of their disruption claims (SEC. 2).

If you’re worried about the police being tied up by bureaucracy in a crisis, the Act includes an emergency use exception. In cases of immediate danger of death or serious injury, law enforcement can use the device without a warrant. However, they must apply for a warrant retroactively within 48 hours. Here’s where the bill gets specific: this emergency exception doesn't apply if they are just trying to find a missing person or a kidnapping victim unless they could have gotten a warrant anyway. This means that while the bill protects civil liberties, it also makes a sharp distinction between criminal pursuit and public safety searches for vulnerable people, a detail that could cause friction in real-world scenarios.

The Transparency Clause: You Have a Right to Know

If your phone was tracked under one of these warrants, the bill requires the court to serve you with an inventory notice within 90 days after the surveillance ends. This notice tells you that a warrant was issued and whether your location was tracked (SEC. 2). While a judge can delay this notice if the government shows a good reason, the default position is transparency. This means that for the first time, individuals might learn they were the target of advanced tracking technology, providing a pathway to challenge the surveillance if they believe it was unlawful.

Finally, the bill creates serious oversight. If an agency employee willfully violates these new rules, they face disciplinary action, and the injured person can sue for damages. Furthermore, the Inspectors General of several major federal agencies (DOJ, Homeland Security, Defense) must submit annual, public reports detailing how often Stingrays were used, how many warrants were granted, and how many innocent people had their data collected (SEC. 2). This mandated reporting ensures that Congress and the public can actually track how this powerful surveillance tool is being deployed across the country.