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Here today, gone tomorrow.
Here today, gone tomorrow.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has been trying to obtain declassified information on Standard Operating Procedure 303, or the Emergency Wireless Protocols, since 2011, but Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have so far gone nowhere. The secretive program, handled by the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) under DHS, was allowed to remain secret after a federal appeals court found in May that FOIA did not apply to this particular program if DHS believed its release would "endanger" the public.
The appeals court described SOP 303 as a "unified voluntary process for the orderly shut-down and restoration of wireless services during critical emergencies such as the threat of radio-activated improvised explosive devices," reports Ars Technica.
In a 2006 report by NSTAC, other government officials and telecom executives claimed the program is capable of turning off wireless networks "within a localized area, such as a tunnel or bridge, and within an entire metropolitan area."
EPIC first issued FOIA requests regarding the program in 2011 after four downtown San Francisco metro train stations had their wireless signals cut by Bay Area Rapid Transit ahead of anticipated protests. Though the program used by BART was different, its act of cutting off cell phone service in public areas to disrupt protests in the name of public safety set a new precedent. Despite the Supreme Court decision, EPIC was given a highly redacted version of SOP 303 [PDF].
Comment: Cloaked under a big and broad plan is the capability of damping of public service access at any time or excuse. Guaranteed we will uncover more control protocol in place as events expose the trip wires and reveal the masters. The SOP 303 (Office of Primary Responsibiiity: National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC)), has been in place for about 10 years, traced back to the London subway attacks in which suicide bombers used cellphones to detonate explosives. Subsequent to that event, NYC shut down cell service in the Hudson River commuter tunnels for two weeks. According to the heavily redacted PDF, the NCC Watch is informed of the requirement to disrupt/disable cellular service to a particular site or region by a designated federal/state/local law enforcement official or member of government. Imagine the implications.