GOP chairman promises to investigate cellphone trackers

by Ali Breland - 09/07/16 12:30 PM ET

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on Wednesday tore into government surveillance methods, saying his committee will investigate one in particular — Stingray scanners.

Stingrays are cellphone trackers that can be used to gain location data from phone users. The trackers have recently come under scrutiny from civil rights groups.

{mosads}”You will be shocked at what the federal government is doing to collect your personal information,” Chaffetz said, according to the Daily Dot. “And they can’t keep it secure, that’s the point.”

Chaffetz last November introduced the Stingray Privacy Act, a bill aimed at curtailing the implementation of the cell tracking technology.

“The abuse of Stingrays and other cell-site simulators by individuals, including law enforcement, could enable gross violations of privacy,” he said at the time.

Chaffetz’s comments Wednesday come after the House Oversight Committee’s release of a scathing 241-page report on the Office of Personnel Management data breach.

Two hackers stole security background-check information, fingerprints and personnel files on millions of people in the cyber attack.

The report said that this “could have been prevented,” adding that “the agency failed to prioritize cybersecurity and adequately secure high-value data.

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