Submission + - Court OKs Warrantless Cell-Site Tracking (gizmodo.com)
ZosX writes: "From the article: "A federal appeals court said Tuesday the government may obtain cell-site information mobile phone carriers retain on their customers without a probable cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment. The decision (.pdf) by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, was not an outright Obama administration victory. Lower courts, the three-judge panel wrote, could demand the government show probable cause — the warrant standard — before requiring carriers to release such data to the feds. The opinion, however, leaves the privacy issue in a legal limbo of sorts. The standard by which the government can access such records — which can be used in criminal prosecutions — is left to the whims of district court judges. Historical cell-site location information, which carriers usually retain for about 18 months, identifies the cell tower to which the customer was connected at the beginning of a call and at the end of the call.""
