Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
View past Libertarian pings here
Posted on 09/08/2010 12:45:06 PM PDT by decimon
A new ruling says that--in most cases--government and law agencies don't need a search warrant to track cell phones.
Tuesday a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled that--in most cases--the FBI and other police agencies do not need a search warrant in order to track the location of cell phones used by Americans.
The three-judge panel of the Third Circuit sided with the Obama Administration (pdf) in the belief that a signed search warrant--one based on a probable cause to suspect criminal activity--isn't necessary when obtaining logs from wireless carriers that depict the whereabouts of a cell phone.
However the panel also sided with civil-liberties groups and decided that, in some cases, investigators will still need to obtain a search warrant from the lower courts to avoid potentially unconstitutional seizures of location data. The court said that this option would be used "sparingly."
Currently there's still a debate on whether the Fourth Amendment applies to phone records. "This decision does not definitively answer the question of the Fourth Amendment status of cell phone [location records]," said Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Kevin Bankston.
(Excerpt) Read more at tomsguide.com ...
All together now: “Oh Yes we can!”
Right, just like Tasers are used "sparingly".
"Currently there's still a debate on whether the Fourth Amendment applies to phone records."
Put a fork in the Constitution. It's done. If we're debating whether records of ANY KIND are exempt from 4th Amendment protections, we're doomed already.
It's been done for quite a while old chap. We're just waiting for the bullets to start flying, that's all.
Republican administrations have been just as aggressive in eroding 4th amending rights as the dems have. It was the one thing I held against Reagan. He used the war on drugs to hammer our rights to privacy.
I thought the totalitarian nightmare was supposed to have ended when Bush left.
Old news TOM
I don’t own a cell phone even though I am in the high tech industry, those around me can’t understand how I can live this way ... ;)
Just another example of your loss of freedom thanks to the dictator in chief and his goons in Congress. New Reality: The Mullah’s DeathCare will have Death Panels deciding if you’re worthy of living. If not, you will be shipped to a Obama/Pelosi/Reid Hospice Center to await your end. Sound like Holocaust II to you yet??
Concur
Of course that just means that an old guy like me will never have to worry about being lost...My family can call DHS and/or Justice and be told where to come and pick me up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.