The Tucson police department is no longer using a controversial phone-tracking system, and says it hasn’t been using it for more than two years.
The devices mimic cellphone towers to allow police to track suspects through their phones. They were formally taken out of service in early 2014, according to a legal adviser for Tucson Police.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the Tucson Police over the trackers. During a court hearing last week, the ACLU cited privacy concerns about their use for people whose phones may be tracked solely because they’re in the same area as a suspect.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that police say the devices, which were purchased with $408,000 in federal funding, were used a total of five times since 2010. The U.S. Justice Department issued new guidelines for federal authorities in September requiring warrants for the use of cell-site simulators in almost all cases.