A little-known but aggressive NYPD campaign to collect the digital fingerprints of cellphones from people in custody has raised concerns among civil liberties experts.
Each cellphone has a unique 15-digit identification number known as its International Mobile Equipment Identity, or IMEI.
When the phone’s user unlocks the device, it’s a simple matter to find its IMEI number via a phone’s setting app, or just by dialing *#06# on its keypad.
Phone companies use the numbers to track misplaced, lost or stolen cell phones. But in the hands of law enforcement, IMEI numbers can become a powerful tool in criminal investigations.
IMEI numbers can give police the ability to determine the location of a phone, and track communications to it and from it, said Daniel Schwarz, a privacy and technology expert with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Schwarz said he hasn’t previously come across the practice of collecting IMEI numbers, except by federal intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency.
Under Mayor Adams’ administration, police brass are pressing officers in commands across the city to convince arrestees to give them access to their cell phones so they can record their IMEI numbers, internal NYPD messages obtained by the Daily News show.
“Every person in custody must have their IMEIs for all devices in their possession recorded by their arresting officer,” according to instructions sent to cops in one command last month and obtained by The News.
“If a prisoner refuses to give the number, state ‘We do not care what contents are stored in the phone.’”
In some cases, police sources said, prisoners are asked repeatedly to make calls or are being tricked or coerced into unlocking their phones.
In the past, people in custody or under arrest were allowed one phone call.
But now cops are under orders to encourage detainees to make multiple calls, partly to get them to unlock the phones so the IMEI number can be recorded.
“Every prisoner is to be…
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