ACLU concerned over Michigan State Police extracting data from cellphones

"For more than two and a half years the ACLU of Michigan has attempted to obtain information about the use of these devices through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act," the ACLU letter said. "Specifically, we have asked for records, reports and logs of actual use. The MSP's estimated cost of $544,680 for retrieval and assembly of these documents for the entire period that five of these devices have been in the MSP's possession is, wholesale electronics suppliers in our view, extraordinarily high.

"In fact, we were told that no part of that set of documents would be provided unless we agreed to pay a $272,340 deposit."

The ACLU said that it has filed nearly 70 records requests for the use of two of the devices for shorter time periods, in an attempt to narrow the scope of the data request and make it easier to get -- but still, the MSP hasn't handed over any information.wholesale Android Tablets

"We were told in each case that there were either no documents available for the period we identified, or that we would be required to pay in advance for MSP personnel to ascertain whether requested documents exist," the ACLU said.

After the ACLU of Michigan posted the letter on its website and a few news outlets covered the story, the Michigan State Police issued a statement on the data extraction devices, which it calls DEDs.


"The MSP only uses the DEDs if a search warrant is obtained or if the person possessing the mobile device gives consent," said Tiffany Brown, a state police spokeswoman, in a statement. "The department's internal directive is that the DEDs only be used by MSP specialty teams on criminal cases, such as crimes against children."

Brown said the DEDs are not being used to extract anyone's personal information during routine traffic stops.

"The MSP does not possess DEDs that can extract data without the officer actually possessing the owner's mobile device," she said. "The DEDs utilized by the MSP cannot obtain information from mobile devices without the mobile device owner knowing."

Brown also said the DEDs the agency is using have been adapted for law enforcement use because of an increasing use of such devices by criminals to steal data from others, noting that such technology has become "a powerful investigative tool used to obtain critical information from criminals."

The ACLU said the MSP has refused to help narrow the records requests to get data on the devices and their use by police, a claim that Brown denied.

"Since 2008, the MSP has worked with the ACLU to narrow the focus, and thus reducing the cost, of its initial Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request," she said. "To date, the MSP has fulfilled at least one ACLU FOIA request on this issue and has several far-lower cost requests awaiting payment to begin processing."