Federal judge sets cellphone privacy precedent – Requires warrant for cellphone location data

It looks like cellphone users – law-biding and nefarious types alike – may soon have legal precedent backing up their cellphone privacy rights. A federal judge ruled this past Wednesday that authorities need probable cause and a warrant in order to get at a cellphone user’s historical cell-tower location data. The case, involving a drug trafficker, affirmed a previous US Magistrate Judge’s ruling that any request for cellphone location-data (be it real-time or historical) be accompanied by a warrant.

“This is a great ruling for location privacy and for people who think the government should have probable cause before they track you,” said Jennifer Granick, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. And indeed the ruling could set a precedent that protects mobile phone users from unlawful requests for location-data.

The ruling shoots down government arguments that cell-tower location-data was no different from financial transaction records, which can pinpoint a person’s location at a particular time. That would avoid classifying mobile phones as “tracking devices” and allow the government to demand cellphone location-data from carriers as they do credit card purchases.

According to Judge Terrence F. McVerry of the Western District of Pennsylvania, a government request for any location-data related to mobile phones requires a warrant. But, the government is said to be considering their options, so don’t go gallivanting around thinking you’re protected just yet.

[Via: WashingtonPost]