White House Refuses to Disclose Secret Cellphone Kill Switch Order

‘The White House has refused to release information about a secret policy that permits the Department of Homeland Security to unilaterally shut down private cellphone service in the event of a national crisis.

Enacted almost ten years ago without public notice or debate, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303, often referred to as the cellphone kill switch, has been shrouded in secrecy from its inception and has been targeted by civil liberties groups looking to make the policy public.

“We have no clue what’s in it or what it’s about,” Harold Feld, the senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a public interest advocacy group, told Al Jazeera America.’

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