Prisons Want Cell Phone Jammers to Stop Inmates from Communicating With the Outside World

In June the Department of Justice released a report that declared a solution to prevent criminal activity from happening within prisons: it successfully tested a jammer that would block mobile signals from smuggled cell phones inside a Maryland prison. Throughout the corrections world the news spread fast. For South Carolina Corrections director Brian Stirling, the news affirmed his beliefs: to stop the flood of mobile phones streaming into prisons, jamming technology was the best, cheapest, and most efficient way to go. But critics warn there would be dire consequences if jamming was allowed to propagate. They argue that there are numerous nefarious reasons—money, control of new systems, and criminal motivations—behind the push to legalize jamming through the corrections system.

Sascha Meinrath, the chair of telecommunications at Penn State University and the founder of X-Lab, a future-focused technology policy and innovation project, has doubts about what’s behind the push. “This fight isn’t really about stopping cell phone smuggling into prisons,” said Meinrath. “There is money to be made. Prisons are just easy use-test cases for private companies to demonstrate technology because it’s a vulnerable population. As soon as its approved to work there, other venues will be clamoring to roll it out. Then where can we draw the line?”