Overview
- The Ministry of Security, which published Resolution 336/2026 on Monday, put into force a system to stop illicit phone use in federal prisons.
- The system spots a device by its IMEI or IMSI, which are the phone’s hardware ID and the SIM subscriber ID, then carriers must confirm deactivation within 48 hours.
- Unlike blanket jammers, the approach targets specific phones inside the facility to limit spillover, and prisons will set outside drop zones for staff and visitors to leave their devices before entering restricted areas.
- The Directorate of Information Technology will buy, install, maintain, and supervise the equipment, and a new procedural manual standardizes how prisons detect phones and request blocks from telecom firms.
- The policy reverses pandemic-era allowances and draws on Law 24.660 plus a 2019 rule on signal jammers, with media reporting mass searches and device seizures as part of the rollout.