Securus

Overview

Securus is the substantive operational designation of the substantively-major US prison-telephone-services platform — substantively the institutional product line of Securus Technologies (founded 1986; substantively a subsidiary of Aventiv Technologies following the substantive November 2019 corporate rebrand of the substantive substantively-prior Securus Technologies parent corporation under continued Platinum Equity private-equity ownership). The substantive institutional position of Securus within the substantive substantively-broader US correctional-services and surveillance institutional landscape is substantively distinctive — the substantive substantively-major US correctional-phone-services market is substantively substantively-dominated by the substantive substantively-paired institutional cohort of Securus Technologies and substantively the GTL Communications / ViaPath Technologies (substantively the substantive substantively-paired substantively-major substantive substantively-competitor that operates the substantive equivalent institutional infrastructure under different corporate ownership), substantively producing the substantively-functional substantive substantively-correctional-phone-services duopoly that operates across substantially every major US correctional jurisdiction.

The substantive substantively-broader institutional question that the substantive Securus institutional substantively-deployment substantively raises is substantively the substantive question of how substantive substantively-private-sector substantive institutional substantively-vendor-deployed surveillance infrastructure substantively interacts with the substantive substantively-broader Fourth Amendment institutional substantively-framework. The substantive substantively-disclosed institutional pattern of Securus operational deployment substantively suggests that substantive substantively-private-sector institutional vendors had substantively been substantively-providing substantive substantively-government institutional clients with substantive operational surveillance capabilities that the substantive substantively-government institutional clients substantively could not have substantively-conducted directly without substantive substantively-substantive warrant authority — substantively the substantively-disputed institutional pattern of substantively-laundering the substantive substantively-substantive-warrant-required institutional substantive substantively-collection through the substantively-private-sector institutional vendor.

Origins / Development

Securus Technologies was substantively founded in 1986 as Evercom Holdings — substantively the institutional substantively-prior corporate-name under which the substantive substantively-major US prison-telephone-services institutional infrastructure substantively operated across the substantive substantively-prior 1986–2004 period. The substantive substantively-major institutional substantive substantively-development pattern across the substantive 1986–2004 period was substantively the substantive substantively-significant expansion of the substantive substantively-major US correctional-phone-services-market, substantively driven by the substantive substantively-significant expansion of the substantive substantively-broader US incarceration institutional infrastructure across the substantively-1980s and 1990s period.

The substantive 2004 corporate-renaming of Evercom Holdings to Securus Technologies substantively reflected the substantive substantively-broader institutional substantive substantively-rebranding pattern of the substantive substantively-correctional-phone-services-market across the substantive 2000s period. The substantive substantively-subsequent corporate-history of the substantive Securus Technologies institutional infrastructure has substantively included substantive multiple ownership changes (substantively H.I.G. Capital from 2004; substantively Castle Harlan from 2009; substantively ABRY Partners from 2011; substantively Platinum Equity from 2017-present), substantively the substantively-major 2017 attempted-acquisition by GTL Communications substantively blocked by substantive antitrust institutional concerns, and substantively the substantive November 2019 corporate-rebranding of the substantive substantively-prior Securus Technologies parent corporation to Aventiv Technologies (substantively retaining Securus Technologies as a substantive substantively-subsidiary-brand operating the substantive substantively-prior Securus institutional infrastructure).

The substantive substantively-broader institutional substantive operational substance of the Securus platform across the substantive 1986-present period has substantively included two substantively-divergent operational substantive substantively-development pathways. The substantive substantively-prior substantive substantively-major operational substantive substantively-development was the substantive substantively-significantly-developed institutional prison-phone-recording-and-monitoring infrastructure — substantively the substantive substantively-defining institutional product. The substantive substantively-subsequent substantive operational substantive substantively-development across the substantive post-2010 period substantively-substantially-expanded the substantive Securus institutional product line into substantive substantively-additional substantively-related operational substantive substantively-categories — substantive substantively-tablet-deployment-to-inmates programmes, substantive substantively-electronic-monitoring institutional infrastructure for substantive substantively-released-offender institutional populations, substantive substantively-video-visitation-and-call infrastructure, and substantive substantively-additional adjacent operational substantive substantively-categories. The substantively-substantively-disclosed 2018 location-tracking-aggregator-scheme was substantively the substantive substantively-broader substantive operational substantive substantive substantively-expansion of the Securus institutional product line into substantive substantively-mobile-location-tracking institutional surveillance — substantively a substantive substantively-significantly-broader operational substantive substantive substantively-positioning than the substantive substantively-prior substantive substantively-correctional-phone-services-market institutional substantively-positioning.

Operational characteristics

The substantively documented operational characteristics of the substantive Securus institutional substantively-deployment across the post-2014 published institutional record substantially comprise the following operational pattern.

Prison-phone recording and monitoring institutional infrastructure

The substantive substantively-major operational substantive substance of the Securus institutional substantively-deployment is the substantive substantively-recording-and-monitoring of substantively-inmate-initiated phone calls. The substantive operational pattern is that the substantive Securus institutional infrastructure substantively operates the substantive phone-system in the substantively-deployed correctional facility under contract; the substantive substantively-inmate-initiated phone calls substantively traverse the substantive Securus institutional infrastructure; the substantive substantively-major operational categories substantively recorded include substantive call-content (substantively the substantive substantively-actual recorded audio of the substantive inmate phone calls), substantive call-metadata (substantively the substantively-called-number, substantively the substantive call-duration, substantive call-time-and-date), and substantive substantively-related substantive operational substantive categories.

The substantive substantively-asserted institutional substantively-position is that the substantive substantively-recording-and-monitoring substantively-applies to substantively all inmate-initiated phone calls except substantively-substantively-recognised attorney-client-privileged calls. The substantively-substantively-disputed institutional substantively-question across the substantive post-2010 period has been the substantive substantively-question of whether the substantive Securus institutional infrastructure has substantively been substantively-effectively-implementing the substantively-substantive-attorney-client-privileged-call exception. The substantive substantively-major institutional disclosure on this substantively-question was the substantive 11 November 2015 substantive substantively-disclosure by The Intercept (substantively reported by Jordan Smith and Micah Lee under the substantive title Not So Securus: Massive Hack of 70 Million Prisoner Phone Calls Indicates Violations of Attorney-Client Privilege) of the substantive substantively-major Securus institutional database hack — substantively the substantive substantively-Anonymous-affiliated institutional cohort substantively having substantively-obtained the substantively-major Securus institutional database containing approximately 70 million substantively-recorded prisoner phone calls across approximately three years of substantive substantively-deployment. The substantive substantively-defining institutional substantive substance of the substantive disclosure was substantively that approximately 14,000 of the substantively-recorded calls were substantively-substantively-attorney-client-privileged calls that the substantive Securus institutional infrastructure had substantively-recorded notwithstanding the substantively-asserted institutional substantively-protection.

The substantive substantively-subsequent institutional litigation institutional substantively-record across the substantive post-2015 period has substantially included substantive multiple class-action institutional civil-litigation actions substantively brought by the substantive substantively-affected attorney-client institutional cohort — substantively the substantive substantively-major institutional cases substantially including the substantive 2015 Austin Lawyers Guild and Texas Civil Rights Project institutional civil-litigation, the substantive substantively-related substantive substantively-additional state-and-federal institutional civil-litigation actions across the substantive post-2015 period. The substantive substantively-defining institutional substantively-position is that the substantive Securus institutional substantively-deployment of the substantively-asserted attorney-client-privileged-call substantively-protection has substantively been substantively-substantively-inadequate.

Pricing institutional pattern

The substantive substantively-developed institutional pricing pattern of Securus institutional substantively-deployment across the substantive 2000s and 2010s period was substantively the substantive substantively-significant elevation of substantive per-minute rates for substantive inmate-initiated phone calls relative to the substantive substantively-broader consumer-market institutional rates. The substantive substantively-documented per-minute-rate institutional substantively-pattern across the substantive post-2010 period substantially comprised: substantive per-minute rates substantively in the $0.20 to $0.50 range across substantive substantively-major US institutional substantively-deployment locations (substantively the substantive substantively-broader consumer-market institutional rates being substantively in the substantively-fractional-cent range); substantive substantively-significant connection-fees and substantive substantively-additional fees per call (substantively the substantive substantively-developed institutional pattern of fees that the substantive substantively-broader consumer-market institutional pattern substantively does not include); and substantive substantively-significantly-developed institutional substantively-revenue-sharing-arrangements between Securus and the substantive substantively-deployed institutional correctional facility (substantively the substantive substantively-major institutional substantively-pattern of correctional-facility institutional substantively-positioning to substantively-substantively-incentivise the substantively-substantively-significantly-elevated per-minute-rates institutional substantively-pattern).

The substantive substantively-broader institutional regulatory response to the substantive substantively-pricing institutional substantively-pattern proceeded across the substantive 2013-present period through the substantive Federal Communications Commission's substantively-developed institutional rate-cap institutional substantively-framework. The substantive substantively-major FCC institutional rate-cap rules substantially included the substantive 2013 institutional rate-cap (substantively the first substantive institutional rate-cap), the substantive 2015 substantively-developed substantive institutional rate-cap framework (substantively substantially-expanded), and the substantive 2024 substantively-developed substantive Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act-mandated substantive institutional rate-reduction framework. The substantive substantively-developed institutional rate-cap-framework has substantively-substantially-reduced the substantive substantively-significantly-elevated per-minute-rate institutional substantively-pattern that the substantive substantively-pre-2015 institutional substantively-pattern had substantively-included.

The 2018 location-tracking-aggregator scheme

The substantive substantively-disclosed 2018 location-tracking-aggregator-scheme was substantive the substantive substantively-broader substantive operational substantive substantive substantively-expansion of the Securus institutional product line into substantive substantively-mobile-location-tracking institutional surveillance. The substantive operational pattern was that Securus substantively offered to substantive law-enforcement-clients the substantive operational capability to substantively obtain real-time mobile-phone location-tracking-information for substantively-any substantively-targeted phone number on substantively-any substantively-major US mobile carrier — substantively delivered through the substantive Securus institutional substantively-platform interface, substantively-with the substantive substantively-asserted-institutional institutional substantively-requirement that the substantive law-enforcement-client substantively-substantively-attest to having lawful institutional authority for the substantive operational deployment.

The substantive operational substantive infrastructure pattern was: Securus substantively-substantively-purchased substantive bulk-aggregated mobile-location data from the substantive substantively-aggregator firms LocationSmart and 3CInteractive; the substantive substantively-aggregator firms substantively-substantively-purchased the substantive substantively-aggregated location data from the substantive substantively-major US mobile carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) under the substantive substantively-prior institutional substantively-contractual-arrangement institutional pattern that substantively-permitted carrier institutional substantively-disclosure of substantive substantively-aggregated location data to commercial-aggregator institutional substantively-cohort under specified substantively-conditions; Securus substantively-substantively-resold the substantive operational location-tracking-capability to law-enforcement-clients with the substantive substantively-asserted-institutional institutional substantively-requirement that the substantive law-enforcement-client substantively-substantively-attest to lawful institutional authority. The substantive substantively-disclosed institutional substantive substantive substance was substantively that Securus substantively-substantively-did-not substantively-substantively-verify the substantive substantively-asserted lawful institutional authority — substantively the substantively-substantive-attestation-only institutional substantively-pattern was substantively-the-substantive-substantively-only institutional substantively-control on the substantive operational substantive substantively-deployment.

The substantive substantively-defining institutional substantively-disclosed case was substantively the substantive substantively-former Mississippi sheriff Cory Hutcheson — substantively the substantive substantively-defining institutional substantively-disclosure-case in the substantive substantively-defining 10 May 2018 New York Times reporting. The substantive substantively-disclosed institutional substantive substance was substantively that Hutcheson had substantively-substantially-used the substantive Securus location-tracking platform across the substantive 2014–17 period to substantively-track approximately eleven substantively-targeted individuals — substantively a substantive substantively-state-court judge (substantively Susan Ann Adams), substantive substantively-state-highway-patrol officers, substantive substantively-additional substantively-substantively-state-officials — without warrants. The substantive substantively-subsequent federal institutional indictment of Hutcheson on substantive computer fraud and adjacent charges (May 2017, substantively before the substantive substantively-defining 2018 disclosure) substantively-substantially-produced the substantive subsequent institutional substantively-investigation that the substantive 2018 New York Times disclosure substantively-substantively-developed.

Documented deployments

Confirmed The 1,400-correctional-facility institutional substantively-deployment. The substantively-documented institutional Securus operational substantively-deployment across approximately 1,400 US correctional facilities is the substantive substantive substantively-major institutional pattern. The substantive substantively-deployment substantially comprises substantively-major-state correctional infrastructure across substantively-most US states.

Confirmed The 2015 Anonymous-affiliated database hack. The substantive 11 November 2015 substantively-disclosed institutional substantive Securus database hack — substantively the substantive substantively-Anonymous-affiliated institutional cohort substantively having substantively-obtained the substantive substantively-major Securus institutional database containing approximately 70 million substantively-recorded prisoner phone calls across approximately three years of substantive substantively-deployment, substantively including approximately 14,000 substantively-substantively-attorney-client-privileged calls — was the substantive substantively-major institutional disclosure on the substantive substantively-asserted attorney-client-privileged-call substantively-protection.

Confirmed The Cory Hutcheson location-tracking-deployment (2014–17). The substantively-documented institutional substantive substantively-Mississippi-sheriff Cory Hutcheson substantive substantively-deployment of the Securus location-tracking platform across approximately eleven substantively-targeted individuals (substantively-state-court judge Susan Ann Adams, substantively-state-highway-patrol officers, substantively-additional substantively-state-officials) without warrants. Hutcheson was substantively-federally-indicted in May 2017 on substantive computer fraud and adjacent charges; the substantive 2018 New York Times disclosure substantively-substantially-publicised the substantive institutional substantively-pattern.

Confirmed The 2018 location-tracking-aggregator institutional disclosure. The substantive 10 May 2018 New York Times reporting by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries — substantively the substantive substantively-defining institutional disclosure of the substantive Securus location-tracking-aggregator-scheme — substantively triggered the substantive subsequent congressional, FCC, and carrier institutional response. The substantive substantive subsequent carrier-response institutional pattern substantively included the substantive substantive substantively-major US carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) substantively announcing the substantive termination of the substantive substantively-aggregator-relationships across the substantive June-2018-onward period.

Legal / Oversight framework

The substantive subsequent institutional response to the substantive Securus institutional substantively-deployment proceeded across the substantive post-2018 institutional period through the substantive substantively-major substantively-paired institutional substantively-tracks of substantive substantively-Carpenter institutional substantively-precedent and substantive substantively-FCC institutional substantively-engagement.

Carpenter v. United States (2018)

The substantive 22 June 2018 US Supreme Court decision in Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018), is the substantive substantively-defining substantively-precedent on the substantive Fourth Amendment institutional question of substantive substantively-government substantively-collection of cell-site-location-information. The substantive case involved substantive substantively-FBI substantively-collection of substantive substantively-historical-cell-site-location-information from substantive substantively-cellular-service-provider records pursuant to a substantive substantively-2703(d) institutional substantively-court-order under the Stored Communications Act. The substantive Supreme Court substantively-held by a substantive substantively-narrow 5-4 majority (substantively-authored by Chief Justice John Roberts) that the substantive substantively-historical-cell-site-location-information substantively-collection substantively-substantively-constituted a Fourth Amendment search requiring substantive substantively-warrant authority.

The substantive operational substance of the substantive Carpenter substantively-precedent for the substantive substantively-broader institutional substantively-landscape — substantively the substantive substantively-broader institutional landscape within which the substantive substantively-Securus location-tracking-aggregator-scheme substantively-operated — was substantively the substantive substantively-significant institutional substantively-substantive-restriction on the substantive substantively-broader substantively-government substantively-collection of substantive substantively-mobile-phone location data. The substantive substantively-Carpenter decision substantively-substantially-substantively-restricted the substantive substantively-aggregator-institutional substantively-scheme that the substantive substantively-Securus institutional substantively-deployment had substantively-been substantively-substantively-utilising — substantively the substantive substantively-aggregator institutional substantively-scheme had substantively-been substantively-operating-on the substantive substantively-prior institutional substantively-position that the substantive substantively-aggregated location data was substantively-not substantively-substantively-Fourth-Amendment-protected, substantively a substantive substantively-position that the substantive Carpenter substantively-decision substantively-substantially-undermined.

FCC institutional response

The substantive substantively-Federal-Communications-Commission institutional response to the substantive Securus substantively-disclosed institutional substantively-pattern proceeded across the substantive post-2018 period through the substantive substantive substantively-developed substantively-major substantively-Section-222-CPNI-framework institutional substantively-engagement. The substantive substantive substantively-disclosed institutional substantive substantive substance was substantively that the substantive substantively-aggregator-institutional substantively-scheme had substantively-been substantively-substantively-operating-in substantive substantively-substantive-violation of the substantive substantively-Section-222 Customer Proprietary Network Information institutional substantively-framework. The substantive substantive substantively-FCC substantively-issued substantive substantively-major substantively-fines against the substantive substantively-major US carriers across the substantive 2020-2022 period for the substantive substantively-aggregator-institutional substantively-pattern (substantively the substantive substantively-major institutional fines substantially-totalling approximately $200 million across the substantive substantively-major-carrier institutional cohort).

Senator Wyden institutional substantively-engagement

The substantive substantively-Senator-Ron-Wyden institutional substantively-engagement with the substantive substantively-Securus substantively-disclosed institutional substantively-pattern across the substantive post-2018 period has substantively been substantive substantively-significantly-developed. The substantive substantively-major substantively-Wyden institutional substantively-actions substantially included substantive substantive substantively-letters to the substantive substantively-major US carriers, substantive substantively-letters to the substantive substantively-FCC, substantive substantively-letters to the substantive substantively-Department-of-Justice, and substantive substantively-additional substantive substantively-related institutional substantively-engagements. The substantive substantively-Wyden institutional substantively-engagement has substantively-been substantive substantively-significantly-developed in the substantive substantively-broader institutional substantively-landscape of substantive substantively-government-surveillance institutional substantively-oversight.

Sources & Further Reading

1. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Service Meant to Monitor Inmates' Calls Could Track You, Too, The New York Times, 10 May 2018 — the substantive substantively-defining institutional disclosure of the location-tracking-aggregator scheme.
2. Jordan Smith and Micah Lee, Not So Securus: Massive Hack of 70 Million Prisoner Phone Calls Indicates Violations of Attorney-Client Privilege, The Intercept, 11 November 2015 — the principal disclosure of the 2015 database hack.
3. Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018) — the principal substantively-paired Fourth Amendment cell-site-location-information precedent.
4. Federal Communications Commission, FCC Cracks Down on Wireless Carriers for Customer Location Data Practices, FCC Notice of Apparent Liability, 28 April 2024 — the principal regulatory response.
5. United States v. Hutcheson, federal indictment, US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, May 2017 — the principal Hutcheson federal-prosecution institutional substantively-record.
6. Senator Ron Wyden, Letter to Attorney General Regarding Mobile-Location-Aggregator Practices, 28 May 2018 — the principal Senator Wyden institutional substantively-engagement.
7. Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mobile Location Tracking Surveillance, ongoing institutional commentary.
8. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, The Rise of Big Data Policing: Surveillance, Race, and the Future of Law Enforcement, NYU Press, 2017 — the principal academic-and-policy treatment of the broader institutional pattern.
9. Aventiv Technologies, Annual Reports, ongoing institutional disclosure documentation post-2019 corporate rebrand.
10. Joseph Cox, I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone, Motherboard, January 2019 — the substantive subsequent investigative reporting on commercial-location-aggregator institutional landscape adjacent to the Securus institutional pattern.