Posted on Dec 20, 2017
Can a Senior NCO order a lower enlisted (Private) to hand over their personal cell phone?
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With appropriate justification, YES. Is it a safety hazard? Is it a security threat? Is there an OPSEC issue? Is it in an unauthorized location? Is it considered potential evidence? Is the Soldier violating regulations/orders? Etc., etc., etc...
https://www.voanews.com/a/hamas-sets-honey-traps--to-hack-israeli-soldiers-phones-army-says/3672124.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/hamas-sets-honey-traps--to-hack-israeli-soldiers-phones-army-says/3672124.html
Hamas Sets 'Honey Traps' to Hack Israeli Soldiers' Phones: Army
An officer, who briefed reporters on the alleged scam, said Hamas that runs the Gaza Strip uncovered no major military secrets in the intelligence-gathering operation
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CPO (Join to see)
Russia has been hacking the cellphones of NATO soldiers stationed near its border "to gain operational information, gauge troop strength and intimidate soldiers," according to The Wall Street Journal
Perhaps the most notable victim was the commander of a NATO base in Poland, US Army Lt. Col. Christopher L’Heureux, who told The Journal that someone with a Russian IP address reported his personal iPhone lost and was trying to get through its password protection.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-targets-soldier-smartphones-western-officials-say [login to see]
Perhaps the most notable victim was the commander of a NATO base in Poland, US Army Lt. Col. Christopher L’Heureux, who told The Journal that someone with a Russian IP address reported his personal iPhone lost and was trying to get through its password protection.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-targets-soldier-smartphones-western-officials-say [login to see]
Russia Targets NATO Soldier Smartphones, Western Officials Say
Russia has opened a new battlefront with NATO, according to Western military officials, by exploiting a point of vulnerability for almost all allied soldiers: their personal smartphones.
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Only to prevent you from using it when you shouldn't be using it, but they cant just come knock on your door and demand you hand over your phone when ever they'd like. I also don't believe they can search through its contents for investigative purposes, but on that I'm not so sure.
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CPO (Join to see)
Yhea, you're wrong. Of course your phone can be searched for evidence.
https://www.bliss.army.mil/staffjudgeadvocate/ClaimsDocuments/Seized%20Cell%20Phone%20Claims%20-%20Info%20Paper.pdf
https://www.bliss.army.mil/staffjudgeadvocate/ClaimsDocuments/Seized%20Cell%20Phone%20Claims%20-%20Info%20Paper.pdf
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SPC David Willis
CPO (Join to see) couldn't open that pdf, is it saying your plt sgt can search your phone, or CID can? I didn't think infantry or supply ncos had investigative abilities when it came to gathering evidence on personal belongings.
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SPC David Willis - That PDF link related to phones seized during sexual assault investigation. The devil is in the details. An NCO shouldn't stick their nose in your personal phone for S&Gs, but yes a regular NCO can have investigative abilities. On a military property, your personal phone is subject to search and seizure much like your personal car is subject to search and seizure. A NCO on guard duty with probable cause is all that is needed. Or an NCO acting IAW an officers guidance is all you need. Some unit SOPs provide generic authority to NCOs to conduct preliminary investigations. As a Sr NCO on military property/vessel, if I have probably cause to believe you committed a crime and evidence of that crime is on your smartphone, then I am well within my authority to seize your phone as evidence. However, can I just walk up to someone for no reason and demand they hand over their phone willy nilly? No. There needs to be a reason, but the level of justification varies greatly depending on the specific circumstances involved. Merely having a phone in a restricted area is enough for any NCO to seize it. Again, the devil is in the details.
An “authorization to search” is an express permission, written or oral, issued by competent military authority to search a person or an area for specified property or evidence or for a specific person and to seize such property, evidence, or person. It may contain an order directing subordinate personnel to conduct a search in a specified manner.
(c) Scope of authorization. A search authorization may be issued under this rule for a search of:
(1) Persons. The person of anyone subject to military law or the law of war wherever found;
(2) Military property. Military property of the United States or of nonappropriated fund activities of an armed force of the United States wherever located;
(3) Persons and property within military control. Persons or property situated on or in a military installation, encampment, vessel, aircraft, vehicle, or any other location under military control, wherever located;
Any commissioned officer, warrant officer, petty officer, noncommissioned officer, and, when in the execution of guard or police duties, any criminal investigator, member of the Air Force security forces, military police, or shore patrol, or individual designated by proper authority to perform guard or police duties, or any agent of any such person, may seize property pursuant to this rule.
Evidence obtained from a probable cause search is admissible without a search warrant or search authorization when there is a reasonable belief that the delay necessary to obtain a search warrant or search authorization would result in the removal, destruction, or concealment of the property or evidence sought. Military operational necessity may create an exigency by prohibiting or preventing communication with a person empowered to grant a search authorization.
http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/135/Docs/JAM/JSC/New%20MREs%20-%20Updated%20June%202015.pdf
An “authorization to search” is an express permission, written or oral, issued by competent military authority to search a person or an area for specified property or evidence or for a specific person and to seize such property, evidence, or person. It may contain an order directing subordinate personnel to conduct a search in a specified manner.
(c) Scope of authorization. A search authorization may be issued under this rule for a search of:
(1) Persons. The person of anyone subject to military law or the law of war wherever found;
(2) Military property. Military property of the United States or of nonappropriated fund activities of an armed force of the United States wherever located;
(3) Persons and property within military control. Persons or property situated on or in a military installation, encampment, vessel, aircraft, vehicle, or any other location under military control, wherever located;
Any commissioned officer, warrant officer, petty officer, noncommissioned officer, and, when in the execution of guard or police duties, any criminal investigator, member of the Air Force security forces, military police, or shore patrol, or individual designated by proper authority to perform guard or police duties, or any agent of any such person, may seize property pursuant to this rule.
Evidence obtained from a probable cause search is admissible without a search warrant or search authorization when there is a reasonable belief that the delay necessary to obtain a search warrant or search authorization would result in the removal, destruction, or concealment of the property or evidence sought. Military operational necessity may create an exigency by prohibiting or preventing communication with a person empowered to grant a search authorization.
http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/135/Docs/JAM/JSC/New%20MREs%20-%20Updated%20June%202015.pdf
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1. This is too vague. 2. If you have your cell phone and are using it during duty hours when you should be training, or on a detail, my answer would be HELL YES. If the Army wanted you to have a cell phone they would have issued you one. Seriously, using your cell phone in the above situation would be no different than taking a nap- bottom line you are not giving 100% to the task. And yes child, an NCO can order you and back it up with UCMJ actions. Use your cell phone on YOUR time not the Army's!
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For purposes of removing a distraction during training/mission ops/briefings/security policy/etc, then yes. The NCO is well within his/her rights to confiscate (for lack of better phrasing) cell phones. If he/she wants to look at the content of said device, then they will need a search warrant.
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I agree, this question needs more clarification as to whether the "taking" of a cell phone is for purposes of keeping the Soldier from using it, or inspecting information contained on the cellphone. The term "phone" is a colloquialism that has not exactly kept up with the technological age. A smart phone, is of course, much more than simply a phone. It's a mobile computer that contains an incredible amount of personal information from pictures, bank statements, private email etc. An NCO could temporarily take a cellphone to remove a training distractor, for example, but not look at the contents of a cellphone without consent of the owner. Frankly, I have issued command directives for Soldiers to put their phones in a communal box during training times, allowing them to be removed for use during breaks and lunch.
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CPO (Join to see)
Evidence obtained from a probable cause search is admissible without a search warrant or search authorization when there is a reasonable belief that the delay necessary to obtain a search warrant or search authorization would result in the removal, destruction, or concealment of the property or evidence sought. Military operational necessity may create an exigency by prohibiting or preventing communication with a person empowered to grant a search authorization.
http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/135/Docs/JAM/JSC/New%20MREs%20-%20Updated%20June%202015.pdf
http://www.hqmc.marines.mil/Portals/135/Docs/JAM/JSC/New%20MREs%20-%20Updated%20June%202015.pdf
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Of course the safest answer is "it depends" but in my view if the NCO suspects your using the Cell Phone as part of larger prohibited activity on a military post or by the UCMJ, then the answer is yes. You should ask a Lawyer on this but I think it was already ruled that a Cell Phone since it broadcasts over unsecure and easily intercepted medium is really not a device covered by the Privacy Act. So searching it would not really fall under the same category as opening your mail and reading it. You should ask a lawyer versed in Military Law though because I am not 100% sure on this.
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My submarine had specific guidelines prohibiting cell phones in certain areas, the engine room being the most noteworthy. This was to prevent purposeful and/or incidental distribution of classified material. If a chief had noticed a cell phone in one of these areas he certainly would have been justified in taking it away, but it probably would have been given back at the end of the day. if it was distracting from training or something like that, they could have taken it then, too. Otherwise, that would be pretty sketchy.
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PO2 Scott Fahsbender
You didn’t get service as soon as you went down the hatch, but they were worried about people taking pictures.
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Are they taking it because the SM is being distracted by it and not doing their job? Then I don't see an issue. Are they trying to take it as part of an investigation? Then I see an issue.
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CPO (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) Actually it is the other way around. An NCO with probable cause of a crime has more authority to seize personal property as evidence of that crime, than taking something because its distracting/annoying. Some unit SOPs also provide Sr NCOs with generic authority to conduct preliminary investigations.
The devil is in the details and there are far too many unknown variables in the question poised
The devil is in the details and there are far too many unknown variables in the question poised
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