An Iowa lawmaker is accusing state investigators of testing software on the Iowa Capitol before using it to monitor Iowa and Iowa State athletes to see if they were using smart phone apps to gamble.
During remarks on the Iowa House floor today, Republican Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids said it appears the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation spied on people in the Iowa Capitol without a warrant.
“People are furious,” she told reporters, indicating Republicans in the Iowa House had discussed the situation during a private meeting this morning.
Jones indicated the state agency involved has refused to answer questions, so Jones brought the situation up during debate of the bill that spells out the budget for the Iowa Department of Public Safety and its Division of Criminal Investigaiton.
“Now, they might be a little bit more willing to answer some questions. I think there has been this desire to just kind of sweep this under the rug and forget about it,” Jones told reporters. “…One lawyer pulled me aside and said this is potentially going to be the biggest class action lawsuit that the state has ever seen.”
A state investigation using software to monitor sports betting on smart phones resulted in at least 35 athletes and team staff from Iowa and Iowa State being charged with gambling illegally and student athletes lost all or part of their NCAA eligibility. As for the alleged round of testing at the Iowa Capitol, Jones said everyone who enters the Capitol should have an expectation of data privacy and that would be violated if their phones were being monitored.
Jones told reporters she and other lawmakers have concerns about the culture in the Division of Criminal Investigation. “We need an indepth analysis of what they’re doing,” Jones said.
According to Jones, information about the DCI’s testing at the Capitol was revealed in documents related to a lawsuit that’s challenging the state’s investigation of an athlete charged with illegal gambling. “I am not alone in my rage,” Jones said on the House floor. “…This very building folks, to test software, to test phones for illegal gambling. And what was the probable cause? I see none. This was a fishing expedition.”
A spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Safety says during the course of training different areas were used for what she calls “demonstrative purposes” to show where sports betting apps had been opened, but she says at no point was any personally identifiable information accessed or used in any fashion.
(This post was updated at 4:10 p.m. with additional information).