You’ve Got Mail: The promise of cyber communication in prisons and the need for regulation

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Communication Options Behind Bars:
As with most aspects of life, communications options for incarcerated people are in flux due to technological changes. For practical, political, and technical reasons, communications methods have evolved more slowly in prison than in the outside world, but change is nonetheless here. New technologies such as video visitation and electronic messaging have the potential to improve quality of life for incarcerated people and help correctional administrators effectively run secure facilities. Yet the promise of these new services is often tempered by a relentless focus on turning incarcerated people and their families into revenue streams for both private and public coffers.

The lucrative market for prison-based telephone service has received substantial attention since 2012, when the Federal Communications Commission reinvigorated a long-stagnant regulatory proceeding concerning rates and business practices in the ICS market. Although the focus of the FCC proceeding has thus far been on telephone service, ICS is not just limited to voice calls — there are emerging technologies with which a growing number of prisons and jails are experimenting.

At the outset, a word about terminology is necessary. News coverage of electronic messaging in correctional facilities often refers to the service as “email for prisons.” Although using the term “email” is a convenient shorthand, it is not accurate. Electronic messaging services allow free-world users to send (and sometimes receive) written communication electronically, but that’s about the end of the similarities between traditional email and prison-based services. Some differences are obviously related to security — e.g., messages often must be reviewed before they are delivered to the recipient, attachments are limited or prohibited, and sometimes new users must be approved before they can communicate with an incarcerated user. There are also important technical differences that impact the growth and use of this new technology: traditional email is based on a standardized architecture that promotes interoperability and competition among providers, whereas electronic messaging uses proprietary stand-alone systems. Some important differences are as follows: ..Continued.. Prison Policy Initiative report by Stephen Raher