Federal Appeals Court Rules Warrant Is Required for Cell Phone Location Tracking
RICHMOND, Va 鈥� In a decision that increases the possibility that the Supreme Court may take up the issue of warrantless phone tracking, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the Fourth Amendment requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before seeking a person鈥檚 historical cell phone location information from that person鈥檚 cell phone company.
In the case, United States v. Graham, the government obtained 221 days, or seven months, of historical cell phone location data for two suspects using a simple court order instead of a warrant based on probable cause. For one suspect, Aaron Graham, the records included 29,659 separate location data points, revealing countless private details of his movements and activities.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 opinion is a full-throated defense of Fourth Amendment privacy rights in the digital age. Cell phone location records can reveal some of the most private details about our lives by showing where we go and who we spend time with,鈥� said Nathan Freed Wessler, staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淩equiring a warrant for access to this information is an important protection against unjustified government intrusions.鈥�
The 4th Circuit鈥檚 opinion holds that this information is protected by the Fourth Amendment because it can reveal private details of movements over time and locations inside of homes and other constitutionally protected spaces. The court rejected the government鈥檚 argument that people give up their privacy rights in this information because their cell phone companies have access to it. 鈥淧eople cannot be deemed to have volunteered to forfeit expectations of privacy by simply seeking active participation in society through use of their cell phones,鈥� the decision reads.
Today鈥檚 decision reaches the opposite conclusion from the 5th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals, which have held that the Fourth Amendment does not protect cell phone location information from warrantless search. Just last week, the 老澳门开奖结果, along with attorneys in Florida, filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking review of the 11th Circuit鈥檚 opinion in United States v. Davis.
The 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Maryland, Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed an amicus brief in U.S. v. Graham.
Today鈥檚 ruling is at:
/sites/default/files/field_document/graham_opinion_4th_cir.pdf
More information on the case is at:
/blog/fighting-striking-case-warrantless-cell-phone-tracking