II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2122 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the use of cell-site 

simulators, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2021 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the 

use of cell-site simulators, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cell-Site Simulator 

5 Warrant Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CELL-SITE SIMULATOR USE. 

7 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 205 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3119. Cell-site simulators 

2 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION OF USE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub4 section (d), it shall be unlawful— 

5 ‘‘(A) for any individual or entity to know6 ingly use a cell-site simulator in the United 

7 States; or 

8 ‘‘(B) for an element of the intelligence 

9 community to use a cell-site simulator outside 

10 the United States if the subject of the surveil11 lance is a United States person. 

12 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize a law 

14 enforcement agency of a governmental entity to use 

15 a cell-site simulator outside the United States. 

16 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—Any individual or entity that vio17 lates subsection (a)(1) shall be fined not more than 

18 $250,000. 

19 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF USE AS EVIDENCE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), no information acquired through the use 

22 of a cell-site simulator in violation of subsection 

23 (a)(1), and no evidence derived therefrom, may be 

24 received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other 

25 proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, de26 partment, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative 


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1 committee, or other authority of the United States, 

2 a State, or a political subdivision thereof. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR ENFORCEMENT.—Infor4 mation acquired through the use of a cell-site simu5 lator in violation of subsection (a)(1) by a person, 

6 and evidence derived therefrom, may be received in 

7 evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding 

8 described in paragraph (1) of this subsection relat9 ing to the alleged violation of subsection (a)(1) in 

10 connection with such use. 

11 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

13 ‘‘(A) WARRANT.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(1) 

15 shall not apply to the use of a cell-site sim16 ulator by a law enforcement agency of a 

17 governmental entity under a warrant 

18 issued— 

19 ‘‘(I) in accordance with this sub20 paragraph; and 

21 ‘‘(II) using the procedures de22 scribed in, and in accordance with the 

23 requirements for executing and re24 turning a warrant under, the Federal 

25 Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in 


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1 the case of a State court, issued using 

2 State warrant and execution and re3 turn procedures and, in the case of a 

4 court-martial or other proceeding 

5 under chapter 47 of title 10 (the Uni6 form Code of Military Justice), issued 

7 under section 846 of that title and in 

8 accordance with the requirements for 

9 executing and returning such a war10 rant, in accordance with regulations 

11 prescribed by the President) by a 

12 court of competent jurisdiction. 

13 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—A court may 

14 issue a warrant described in clause (i) (ex15 cept, with respect to a State court, to the 

16 extent use of a cell-site simulator by a law 

17 enforcement agency of a governmental en18 tity is prohibited by the law of the State) 

19 only if the law enforcement agency— 

20 ‘‘(I) demonstrates that other in21 vestigative procedures, including elec22 tronic location tracking methods that 

23 solely collect records of the investiga24 tive target— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) have been tried and 

2 have failed; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) reasonably appear to 

4 be— 

5 ‘‘(AA) unlikely to suc6 ceed if tried; or 

7 ‘‘(BB) too dangerous; 

8 ‘‘(II) specifies the likely area of 

9 effect of the cell-site simulator to be 

10 used and the time that the cell-site 

11 simulator will be in operation; 

12 ‘‘(III) certifies that the requested 

13 area of effect and time of operation 

14 are the narrowest reasonably possible 

15 to obtain the necessary information; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(IV) demonstrates that the re18 quested use of a cell-site simulator 

19 would be in compliance with applica20 ble provisions of the Communications 

21 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) 

22 and the rules of the Federal Commu23 nications Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In consid2 ering an application for a warrant de3 scribed in clause (i), the court shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) weigh the need of the gov5 ernment to enforce the law and appre6 hend criminals against the likelihood 

7 and impact of any potential negative 

8 side effects disclosed by the govern9 ment under subparagraph (C); and 

10 ‘‘(II) not grant a request for a 

11 warrant that would put public safety 

12 at risk or unreasonably inconvenience 

13 the community. 

14 ‘‘(iv) PERIOD OF INITIAL AUTHORIZA15 TION.—No warrant described in clause (i) 

16 may authorize the use of a cell site simu17 lator for any period longer than is nec18 essary to achieve the objective of the au19 thorization, nor in any event for longer 

20 than 30 days. 

21 ‘‘(v) EXTENSIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A court may 

23 grant extensions of a warrant de24 scribed in clause (i), but only upon 

25 application for an extension made in 


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1 accordance with clause (i) and the 

2 court considering the factors described 

3 in clause (iii) and determining the re4 quirements under clause (ii) are met. 

5 ‘‘(II) PERIOD OF EXTENSION.— 

6 The period of an extension of a war7 rant shall be no longer than the au8 thorizing judge determines necessary 

9 to achieve the purposes for which the 

10 extension was granted, nor in any 

11 event for longer than 30 days. 

12 ‘‘(vi) TERMINATION PROVISION.— 

13 Each warrant described in clause (i), and 

14 each extension thereof, shall contain a pro15 vision that the authorization to use the cell 

16 site simulator shall be executed as soon as 

17 practicable and shall terminate upon at18 tainment of the authorized objective, or in 

19 any event in 30 days. 

20 ‘‘(vii) START OF 30-DAY PERIODS.— 

21 The 30-day periods described in clauses 

22 (iv), (v)(II), and (vi) shall begin on the 

23 earlier of— 

24 ‘‘(I) the date on which a law en25 forcement agency first begins to use 


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1 the cell site simulator as authorized 

2 by the warrant, or extension thereof; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(II) the date that is 10 days 

5 after the warrant, or extension there6 of, is issued. 

7 ‘‘(B) EMERGENCY.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

9 (ii), subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to the 

10 use of a cell-site simulator by a law en11 forcement agency of a governmental entity, 

12 or use of a cell-site simulator as part of as13 sistance provided by a component of the 

14 Department of Defense or an Armed Force 

15 to such a law enforcement agency, if— 

16 ‘‘(I) the governmental entity rea17 sonably determines an emergency ex18 ists that— 

19 ‘‘(aa) involves— 

20 ‘‘(AA) immediate dan21 ger of death or serious phys22 ical injury to any person; 

23 ‘‘(BB) conspiratorial 

24 activities characteristic of 

25 organized crime; or 


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1 ‘‘(CC) an immediate 

2 threat to a national security 

3 interest; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) requires use of a cell5 site simulator before a warrant 

6 described in subparagraph (A) 

7 can, with due diligence, be ob8 tained; and 

9 ‘‘(II) except in an instance in 

10 which the governmental entity is try11 ing to locate a lost or missing person, 

12 locate someone believed to have been 

13 abducted or kidnaped, or find victims, 

14 dead or alive, in an area where a nat15 ural disaster, terrorist attack, or other 

16 mass casualty event has taken place— 

17 ‘‘(aa) there are grounds 

18 upon which a warrant described 

19 in subparagraph (A) could be en20 tered to authorize such use; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) the governmental enti22 ty applies for a warrant described 

23 in subparagraph (A) approving 

24 such use not later than 48 hours 

25 after such use begins, and takes 


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1 such steps to expedite the consid2 eration of such application as 

3 may be possible. 

4 ‘‘(ii) TERMINATION OF EMERGENCY

5 USE.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A law en7 forcement agency of a governmental 

8 entity shall immediately terminate use 

9 of a cell-site simulator under clause 

10 (i) of this subparagraph at the earlier 

11 of the time the information sought is 

12 obtained or the time the application 

13 for a warrant described in subpara14 graph (A) is denied. 

15 ‘‘(II) WARRANT DENIED.—If an 

16 application for a warrant described in 

17 clause (i)(II)(bb) is denied— 

18 ‘‘(aa) any information or 

19 evidence derived from use of the 

20 cell-site simulator shall be— 

21 ‘‘(AA) subject to sub22 section (c); and 

23 ‘‘(BB) promptly de24 stroyed by the applicable law 

25 enforcement agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the applicable law en2 forcement agency shall serve an 

3 inventory on each person named 

4 in the application. 

5 ‘‘(C) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED IN APPLICA6 TION.—In any application for a warrant au7 thorizing the use of a cell-site simulator under 

8 subparagraph (A) or (B), the governmental en9 tity shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) A disclosure of any potential dis11 ruption of the ability of the subject of the 

12 surveillance or bystanders to use commer13 cial mobile radio services or private mobile 

14 services, including using advanced commu15 nications services, to make or receive, as 

16 applicable— 

17 ‘‘(I) emergency calls (including 

18 9–1–1 calls); 

19 ‘‘(II) calls to the universal tele20 phone number within the United 

21 States for the purpose of the national 

22 suicide prevention and mental health 

23 crisis hotline system under designated 

24 under paragraph (4) of section 251(e) 

25 of the Communications Act of 1934 


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1 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)), as added by the 

2 National Suicide Hotline Designation 

3 Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–172; 

4 134 Stat. 832); 

5 ‘‘(III) calls to the nationwide toll6 free number for the poison control 

7 centers established under section 1271 

8 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 300d–71); 

10 ‘‘(IV) calls using telecommuni11 cations relay services; or 

12 ‘‘(V) any other communications 

13 or transmissions. 

14 ‘‘(ii) A certification that the specific 

15 model of the cell-site simulator to be used 

16 has been inspected by a third party that is 

17 an accredited testing laboratory recognized 

18 by the Federal Communications Commis19 sion to verify the accuracy of the disclosure 

20 under clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(iii) A disclosure of the methods and 

22 precautions that will be used to minimize 

23 disruption, including— 


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1 ‘‘(I) any limit on the length of 

2 time the cell-site simulator can be in 

3 continuous operation; and 

4 ‘‘(II) any user-defined limit on 

5 the transmission range of the cell-site 

6 simulator. 

7 ‘‘(iv) A disclosure as to whether the 

8 cell-site simulator will primarily be used at 

9 a gathering where constitutionally pro10 tected activity, including speech, will occur. 

11 ‘‘(D) NOTICE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Within a reason13 able time, but, subject to clause (ii), not 

14 later than 90 days after the filing of an 

15 application for a warrant authorizing the 

16 use of a cell-site simulator which is denied 

17 or the termination of the period of such a 

18 warrant, or extensions thereof, the issuing 

19 or denying judge shall cause to be served 

20 on the persons named in the warrant or 

21 the application, and, as the judge may de22 termine, in the discretion of the judge, is 

23 in the interest of justice, other persons 

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1 lator, an inventory which shall include no2 tice of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the fact of the entry of the 

4 warrant or the application; 

5 ‘‘(II) the date of the entry and 

6 the period of authorized, approved or 

7 disapproved use of a cell-site simu8 lator, or the denial of the application; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(III) whether, during the pe11 riod— 

12 ‘‘(aa) information about 

13 their device was, or was not, ob14 tained by the government; 

15 ‘‘(bb) their location was, or 

16 was not, tracked; and 

17 ‘‘(cc) their communications 

18 were, or were not, intercepted. 

19 ‘‘(ii) DELAY OF NOTICE.—On an ex 

20 parte showing of good cause to a court of 

21 competent jurisdiction, the serving of the 

22 inventory required under clause (i) may be 

23 postponed. 

24 ‘‘(2) FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEIL25 LANCE.—Use of a cell-site simulator by an element 


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1 of the intelligence community shall not be subject to 

2 subsection (a)(1) if it is conducted in a manner that 

3 is in accordance with— 

4 ‘‘(A) title I of the Foreign Intelligence 

5 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et 

6 seq.) (including testing or training authorized 

7 under paragraph (1) or (3) of section 105(g) of 

8 such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805(g)) (including such 

9 testing or training conducted in conjunction 

10 with a component of the Department of De11 fense or an Armed Force), if any information 

12 obtained during such testing or training (in13 cluding metadata) is destroyed after its use for 

14 such testing or training); or 

15 ‘‘(B) section 704(c)(1)(E) of such Act (50 

16 U.S.C. 1881c(c)(1)(E)). 

17 ‘‘(3) RESEARCH.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not 

18 apply to the use of a cell-site simulator in order to 

19 engage, in good-faith, in research or teaching by a 

20 person that is not— 

21 ‘‘(A) a law enforcement agency of a gov22 ernmental entity; 

23 ‘‘(B) an element of the intelligence commu24 nity; or 

25 ‘‘(C) acting as an agent thereof. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE SERVICES.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a)(1) 

3 shall not apply to the use of a cell-site simu4 lator in the performance of protective duties 

5 pursuant to section 3056 of this title, or as oth6 erwise authorized by law. 

7 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON USE AS EVI8 DENCE.—No information acquired through the 

9 use of a cell-site simulator under the authority 

10 under subparagraph (A), and no evidence de11 rived therefrom, may be received in evidence in 

12 any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or be13 fore any court, grand jury, department, officer, 

14 agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, 

15 or other authority of the United States, a State, 

16 or a political subdivision thereof. 

17 ‘‘(C) NO BAR TO OTHER AUTHORIZED

18 USE.—Nothing in subparagraph (A) or (B) 

19 shall be construed to prohibit the United States 

20 Secret Service from using a cell-site simulator 

21 in accordance with a provision of this section 

22 other than subparagraph (A). 

23 ‘‘(5) CONTRABAND INTERDICTION BY CORREC24 TIONAL FACILITIES.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not 

25 apply to the use of a contraband interdiction system 


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1 if the correctional facility or the entity operating the 

2 contraband interdiction system for the benefit of the 

3 correctional facility— 

4 ‘‘(A) has— 

5 ‘‘(i) taken reasonable steps to restrict 

6 transmissions by the contraband interdic7 tion system to cellular devices physically lo8 cated within the property of the correc9 tional facility; 

10 ‘‘(ii) posted signs around the correc11 tional facility informing visitors and staff 

12 that the correctional facility employs such 

13 a contraband interdiction system; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) complied with any relevant regu15 lations promulgated by the Federal Com16 munications Commission and, as applica17 ble, policies issued by the National Tele18 communications and Information Adminis19 tration; 

20 ‘‘(B) annually tests and evaluates compli21 ance with subparagraph (A) in accordance with 

22 best practices, which shall be issued by the Fed23 eral Communications Commission; and 

24 ‘‘(C) not later than 10 business days after 

25 identifying an issue relating to the use of the 


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1 contraband interdiction system, whether in the 

2 course of normal business operations or con3 ducting testing and evaluation, submits to the 

4 Federal Communications Commission a report 

5 describing the issues identified and the steps 

6 taken to address the issues. 

7 ‘‘(6) TESTING AND TRAINING BY LAW EN8 FORCEMENT.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply to 

9 the use of a cell-site simulator by a law enforcement 

10 agency of a governmental entity in the normal 

11 course of official duties that is not targeted against 

12 the communications of any particular person or per13 sons, under procedures approved by the Attorney 

14 General, solely to— 

15 ‘‘(A) test the capability of electronic equip16 ment, if— 

17 ‘‘(i) it is not reasonable to obtain the 

18 consent of the persons incidentally sub19 jected to the surveillance; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the test is limited in extent and 

21 duration to that necessary to determine to 

22 capability of the equipment; 

23 ‘‘(iii) any information obtained during 

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1 termining the capability of the equipment, 

2 is disclosed only to test personnel, and is 

3 destroyed before or immediately upon com4 pletion of the test; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) the test is for a period of not 

6 longer than 90 days, unless the law en7 forcement agency obtains the prior ap8 proval of the Attorney General; or 

9 ‘‘(B) train law enforcement personnel in 

10 the use of electronic surveillance equipment, 

11 if— 

12 ‘‘(i) it is not reasonable to— 

13 ‘‘(I) obtain the consent of the 

14 persons incidentally subjected to the 

15 surveillance; 

16 ‘‘(II) train persons in the course 

17 of otherwise authorized law enforce18 ment activities; or 

19 ‘‘(III) train persons in the use of 

20 such equipment without engaging in 

21 surveillance; 

22 ‘‘(ii) such surveillance is limited in ex23 tent and duration to that necessary to 

24 train the personnel in the use of the equip25 ment; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any information obtained during 

2 such training (including metadata) is de3 stroyed after its use for such training. 

4 ‘‘(7) FCC TESTING.—Subsection (a)(1) shall 

5 not apply to the use of a cell-site simulator by the 

6 Federal Communications Commission, or an accred7 ited testing laboratory recognized by the Federal 

8 Communications Commission, in order to test the 

9 cell-site simulator. 

10 ‘‘(8) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

11 this subsection shall be construed to exempt a State 

12 or local government from complying with regulations 

13 promulgated by the Federal Communications Com14 mission, including the requirement to obtain author15 ization to transmit on spectrum regulated by the 

16 Federal Communications Commission. 

17 ‘‘(e) LIMIT ON CERTAIN USE NOT CONDUCTED PUR18 SUANT TO WARRANTS AND ORDERS.—The use of a cell19 site simulator under subsection (d)(1)(B) of this section 

20 (which shall not include such a use by a component of 

21 the Department of Defense or an Armed Force providing 

22 assistance to a law enforcement agency of a governmental 

23 entity under such subsection (d)(1)(B)), under section 

24 105(e) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

25 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(e)), or under clause (i) or (ii) of 


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1 section 102(a)(1)(A) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil2 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)(1)(A)) may only 

3 be carried out lawfully using a specific model of a cell4 site simulator for which the disclosures required under 

5 clauses (i) and (ii) of subsection (d)(1)(C) were included 

6 with respect to the specific model in connection with— 

7 ‘‘(1) for use by an element of the intelligence 

8 community under title I of the Foreign Intelligence 

9 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), 

10 an application for an order under such Act that was 

11 approved; or 

12 ‘‘(2) for use by a law enforcement agency of a 

13 governmental entity, an application for a warrant— 

14 ‘‘(A) under the Federal Rules of Criminal 

15 Procedure that was approved by a judge of the 

16 judicial district in which the law enforcement 

17 agency intends to use the cell-site simulator; or 

18 ‘‘(B) using State warrant procedures that 

19 was approved by a judge of the State in which 

20 the law enforcement agency intends to use the 

21 cell-site simulator. 

22 ‘‘(f) MINIMIZATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

24 adopt specific procedures that are reasonably de25 signed to minimize the acquisition and retention, 


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1 and prohibit the dissemination, of information ob2 tained through the use of a cell-site simulator under 

3 an exception under paragraph (1) or (2) of sub4 section (d) that pertains to any person who is not 

5 an authorized subject of the use. 

6 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney General 

7 shall make publicly available on the website of the 

8 Department of Justice the procedures adopted under 

9 paragraph (1) and any revisions to such procedures. 

10 ‘‘(3) USE BY AGENCIES.—If a law enforcement 

11 agency of a governmental entity or element of the 

12 intelligence community acquires information per13 taining to a person who is not an authorized subject 

14 of the use of a cell-site simulator under an exception 

15 under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (d), the 

16 law enforcement agency or element of the intel17 ligence community shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) minimize the acquisition and reten19 tion, and prohibit the dissemination, of the in20 formation in accordance with the procedures 

21 adopted under paragraph (1); and 

22 ‘‘(B) destroy the information (including 

23 metadata) at the earliest possible opportunity. 

24 ‘‘(g) DISCLOSURE TO DEFENDANT.—Any informa25 tion acquired through the operation of a cell-site simuVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2122.IS S2122

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1 lator, or derived from such information, shall be disclosed 

2 to the defendant in any action in which the information 

3 is introduced into evidence. 

4 ‘‘(h) SCOPE OF COLLECTION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED USE.—Information collected 

6 under this section may only include information 

7 identifying nearby electronic devices communicating 

8 with the cell-site simulator and the strength and di9 rection of transmissions from those electronic de10 vices. 

11 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH WIRETAPPING RE12 QUIREMENTS TO OBTAIN CONTENTS.—In the case of 

13 any interception of a wire or electronic communica14 tion by the cell-site simulator— 

15 ‘‘(A) with respect to an interception by a 

16 law enforcement agency of a governmental enti17 ty, the provisions of chapter 119 shall apply in 

18 addition to the provisions of this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) with respect to an interception by an 

20 element of the intelligence community, the ele21 ment of the intelligence community may only 

22 conduct the surveillance using the cell-site sim23 ulator in accordance with an order authorizing 

24 the use issued in accordance with title I of the 

25 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 


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1 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), in addition to com2 plying with the provisions of this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH TRACKING DEVICE RE4 QUIREMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a cell-site simulator 

6 is to be used by a law enforcement agency of 

7 a governmental entity to locate or track the 

8 movement of a person or object, the provisions 

9 of section 3117 and rule 41 of the Federal 

10 Rules of Criminal Procedure shall apply in ad11 dition to the provisions of this section. 

12 ‘‘(B) COURT.—For purposes of applying 

13 section 3117 and rule 41 of the Federal Rules 

14 of Criminal Procedure to the use of a cell-site 

15 simulator, a court may authorize such use with16 in the jurisdiction of the court, and outside that 

17 jurisdiction if— 

18 ‘‘(i) the use commences within that 

19 jurisdiction; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) at the time the application is 

21 presented to the court, the governmental 

22 entity certifies that it has probable cause 

23 to believe that the target is physically lo24 cated within that jurisdiction. 


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1 ‘‘(i) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person subject to an unlaw2 ful operation of a cell-site simulator may bring a civil ac3 tion for appropriate relief (including declaratory and in4 junctive relief, actual damages, statutory damages of not 

5 more than $500 for each violation, and attorney fees) 

6 against the person, including a governmental entity, that 

7 conducted that unlawful operation before a court of com8 petent jurisdiction. 

9 ‘‘(j) ADMINISTRATIVE DISCIPLINE.—If a court or ap10 propriate department or agency determines that the 

11 United States or any of its departments or agencies has 

12 violated any provision of this section, and the court or ap13 propriate department or agency finds that the cir14 cumstances surrounding the violation raise serious ques15 tions about whether or not an officer or employee of the 

16 United States acted willfully or intentionally with respect 

17 to the violation, the department or agency shall, upon re18 ceipt of a true and correct copy of the decision and find19 ings of the court or appropriate department or agency 

20 promptly initiate a proceeding to determine whether dis21 ciplinary action against the officer or employee is war22 ranted. If the head of the department or agency involved 

23 determines that disciplinary action is not warranted, he 

24 or she shall notify the Inspector General with jurisdiction 

25 over the department or agency concerned and shall provide 


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1 the Inspector General with the reasons for such deter2 mination. 

3 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the terms defined in section 2711 have, re5 spectively, the definitions given such terms in that 

6 section; 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘advanced communications serv8 ices’ has the meaning given that term in section 3 

9 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

10 153); 

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘cell-site simulator’ means any 

12 device that functions as or simulates a base station 

13 for commercial mobile services or private mobile 

14 services in order to identify, locate, or intercept 

15 transmissions from cellular devices for purposes 

16 other than providing ordinary commercial mobile 

17 services or private mobile services; 

18 ‘‘(4) the term ‘commercial mobile radio service’ 

19 has the meaning given that term in section 20.3 of 

20 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc21 cessor thereto; 

22 ‘‘(5) the term ‘contraband interdiction system’ 

23 means any device that functions as or simulates a 

24 base station for commercial mobile services or pri25 vate mobile services for purposes of identifying, loVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2122.IS S2122

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1 cating, or intercepting transmissions from contra2 band cellular devices in correctional facilities; 

3 ‘‘(6) the term ‘derived’ means, with respect to 

4 information or evidence, that the government would 

5 not have originally possessed the information or evi6 dence but for the use of a cell-site simulator, and re7 gardless of any claim that the information or evi8 dence is attenuated from the surveillance would in9 evitably have been discovered, or was subsequently 

10 reobtained through other means; 

11 ‘‘(7) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 

12 the meaning given that term in section 2510; 

13 ‘‘(8) the term ‘electronic device’ has the mean14 ing given the term ‘computer’ in section 1030(e); 

15 ‘‘(9) the term ‘emergency call’ has the meaning 

16 given that term in section 6001 of the Middle Class 

17 Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 

18 1401)); 

19 ‘‘(10) the term ‘intelligence community’ has the 

20 meaning given that term in section 3 of the National 

21 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003); 

22 ‘‘(11) the term ‘mitigation’ means the deletion 

23 of all information collected about a person who is 

24 not the subject of the warrant or investigation; 


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1 ‘‘(12) the term ‘private mobile service’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 332 of the Com3 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332); 

4 ‘‘(13) the term ‘telecommunications relay serv5 ice’ has the meaning given that term in section 225 

6 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

7 225); and 

8 ‘‘(14) the term ‘United States person’ has the 

9 meaning given that term in section 101 of the For10 eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

11 U.S.C. 1801).’’. 

12 (b) FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF

13 1978 REQUIREMENTS.—The Foreign Intelligence Surveil14 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended— 

15 (1) in section 101 (50 U.S.C. 1801), by adding 

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(q) ‘Cell-site simulator’ has the meaning given that 

18 term in section 3119 of title 18, United States Code.’’; 

19 (2) in section 102(a) (50 U.S.C. 1802(a)), by 

20 adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(5) The Government may only use a cell-site simu22 lator pursuant to the authority under clause (i) or (ii) of 

23 paragraph (1)(A) without obtaining an order under this 

24 title authorizing such use if the Government has impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2122.IS S2122

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1 mented measures that are reasonably likely to limit the 

2 collection activities to— 

3 ‘‘(A) means of communications used exclusively 

4 between or among foreign powers, as defined in 

5 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 101(a); or 

6 ‘‘(B) property or premises under the open and 

7 exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in 

8 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 101(a).’’; 

9 (3) in section 105 (50 U.S.C. 1805), by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(k)(1) A judge having jurisdiction under section 103 

12 may issue an order under this section that authorizes the 

13 use of a cell-site simulator only if the applicant— 

14 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that other investigative pro15 cedures, including electronic location tracking meth16 ods that solely collect records of the investigative 

17 target— 

18 ‘‘(i) have been tried and have failed; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) reasonably appear to be— 

20 ‘‘(I) unlikely to succeed if tried; or 

21 ‘‘(II) too dangerous; 

22 ‘‘(B) specifies the likely area of effect of the 

23 cell-site simulator to be used and the time that the 

24 cell-site simulator will be in operation; 


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1 ‘‘(C) certifies that the requested area of effect 

2 and time of operation are the narrowest reasonably 

3 possible to obtain the necessary information; and 

4 ‘‘(D) demonstrates that the requested use of a 

5 cell-site simulator would be in compliance with appli6 cable provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 

7 (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) and the rules of the Federal 

8 Communications Commission. 

9 ‘‘(2) In any application for an order under this sec10 tion authorizing the use of a cell-site simulator, the appli11 cant shall include the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) A disclosure of any potential disruption of 

13 the ability of the subject of the surveillance or by14 standers to use commercial mobile radio services or 

15 private mobile services, including using advanced 

16 communications services, to make or receive, as ap17 plicable— 

18 ‘‘(i) emergency calls (including 9–1–1 

19 calls); 

20 ‘‘(ii) calls to the universal telephone num21 ber within the United States for the purpose of 

22 the national suicide prevention and mental 

23 health crisis hotline system under designated 

24 under paragraph (4) of section 251(e) of the 

25 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 


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1 251(e)), as added by the National Suicide Hot2 line Designation Act of 2020 (Public Law 116– 

3 172; 134 Stat. 832); 

4 ‘‘(iii) calls to the nationwide toll-free num5 ber for the poison control centers established 

6 under section 1271 of the Public Health Service 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 300d–71); 

8 ‘‘(iv) calls using telecommunications relay 

9 services; or 

10 ‘‘(v) any other communications or trans11 missions. 

12 ‘‘(B) A certification that the specific model of 

13 the cell-site simulator to be used has been inspected 

14 by a third party that is an accredited testing labora15 tory recognized by the Federal Communications 

16 Commission to verify the accuracy of the disclosure 

17 under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(C) A disclosure of the methods and pre19 cautions that will be used to minimize disruption, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(i) any limit on the length of time the 

22 cell-site simulator can be in continuous oper23 ation; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) any user-defined limit on the trans25 mission range of the cell-site simulator. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A disclosure as to whether the cell-site 

2 simulator will primarily be used at a gathering 

3 where constitutionally protected activity, including 

4 speech, will occur. 

5 ‘‘(3) In considering an application for an order under 

6 this section that authorizes the use of a cell-site simulator, 

7 the court shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) weigh the need of the Government to ob9 tain the information sought against the likelihood 

10 and impact of any potential negative side effects dis11 closed by the Government under paragraph (2); and 

12 ‘‘(B) not grant a request for an order that 

13 would put public safety at risk or unreasonably in14 convenience the community.’’; and 

15 (4) in section 704(c)(1) (50 U.S.C. 

16 1881c(c)(1))— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

20 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(E) if the applicant is seeking to use a 

23 cell-site simulator (as defined in section 101), 

24 the requirements that would apply for the use 


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1 of a cell-site simulator in the United States 

2 under section 105(k) have been satisfied.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3127 of 

4 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘but such term 

6 does not include any’’ and inserting ‘‘except such 

7 term does not include any cell-site simulator, as that 

8 term is defined in section 3119, or’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘of any com10 munication’’ and inserting ‘‘of any communication, 

11 except such term does not include any cell-site simu12 lator, as that term is defined in section 3119’’. 

13 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORTS.— 

14 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

15 ‘‘covered Federal entity’’ means— 

16 (A) a law enforcement agency of a depart17 ment or agency of the Federal Government; and 

18 (B) an element of the intelligence commu19 nity (as defined in section 3 of the National Se20 curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003)). 

21 (2) REPORTS.—The Inspector General of the 

22 Department of Justice, the Inspector General of the 

23 Department of Homeland Security, the Inspector 

24 General of the Department of Defense, and the In25 spector General of the Intelligence Community shall 


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1 annually submit to Congress a joint report, and pub2 lish an unclassified version of the report on the 

3 website of each such inspector general, on— 

4 (A) the overall compliance of covered Fed5 eral entities with this Act and the amendments 

6 made by this Act; 

7 (B) the number of applications by covered 

8 Federal entities for use of a cell-site simulator 

9 that were applied for and the number that were 

10 granted; 

11 (C) the number of emergency uses of a 

12 cell-site simulator under section 3119(d)(1)(B) 

13 of title 18, United States Code, as added by 

14 this Act; 

15 (D) the number of such emergency uses 

16 for which a court subsequently issued a warrant 

17 authorizing the use and the number of such 

18 emergency uses in which an application for a 

19 warrant was denied; 

20 (E) the number of devices that were tar21 geted with a cell-site simulator, which shall be 

22 provided separately for targeting conducted 

23 pursuant to a warrant or court order and tar24 geting conducted pursuant to an authority to 


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1 use a cell-site simulator without a warrant or 

2 order; 

3 (F) the number of devices that were not 

4 the target of the use of a cell-site simulator 

5 about which information was obtained with the 

6 cell-site simulator, which shall— 

7 (i) be provided separately for use con8 ducted pursuant to a warrant or court 

9 order and use conducted pursuant to an 

10 authority to use a cell-site simulator with11 out a warrant or order; and 

12 (ii) include the number of such de13 vices about which the information was not 

14 destroyed as a result of the minimization 

15 requirements under section 3119(f) of title 

16 18, United States Code, as added by this 

17 section, which shall be provided separately 

18 for use conducted pursuant to a warrant or 

19 court order and use conducted pursuant to 

20 an authority to use a cell-site simulator 

21 without a warrant or order; 

22 (G) which components of a law enforce23 ment agency of a department or agency of the 

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1 tors and how many are available to that compo2 nent; and 

3 (H) instances in which a law enforcement 

4 agency of a department or agency of the Fed5 eral Government made cell-site simulators avail6 able to a State or unit of local government. 

7 (3) FORM OF REPORTS.—Each report sub8 mitted under paragraph (2) shall be submitted in 

9 unclassified form, but may include a classified 

10 annex. 

11 (e) FCC REGULATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 

14 Communications Commission shall initiate any pro15 ceeding that may be necessary to promulgate or 

16 modify regulations promulgated by the Federal Com17 munications Commission to implement this Act and 

18 the amendments made by this Act. 

19 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act or an 

20 amendment made by this Act shall be construed to 

21 expand or contract the authority of the Federal 

22 Communications Commission. 

23 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) of this 


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1 section, and the amendments made by such sub2 sections, shall apply on and after the date that is 2 

3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

5 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

6 term ‘‘cell-site simulator’’ has the meaning 

7 given that term in section 3119 of title 18, 

8 United States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

9 (B) EXTENSION FOR EXISTING CELL-SITE

10 SIMULATORS.—For any model of a cell-site sim11 ulator in use before the date of enactment of 

12 this Act, including such use in a contraband 

13 interdiction system at a correctional facility, if 

14 the Attorney General certifies that additional 

15 time is necessary to obtain independent tests of 

16 the model of cell-site simulator, subsections (a), 

17 (b), (c), and (d) of this section, and the amend18 ments made by such subsections, shall apply to 

19 the use of the model of cell-site simulator on 

20 and after the date that is 3 years after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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