The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled this week that cell phone location data is not protected by the Fourth Amendment and can be accessed by authorities without a search warrant, according to PC World. The ruling claims this information is a business record owned by the carriers and can be turned over to authorities in response to an individual request. This decision applies to customers in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
The ruling acknowledges that consumers may want this data to stay private, but notes that the laws as they are now written do not protect this data. The court advises consumers to lobby their elected representatives to pass legislation to protect this data or even stop it from even being collected and stored in the first place.
[Via PC World]