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Legal Battles Over Cellphone Tracking

Posted by Zonk on from the they-know-if-you're-awake-citizen dept.

stupefaction writes "The New York Times reports on recent successful court challenges to police use of cellphone tracking information in the course of an investigation. From the article: 'In the last four months, three federal judges have denied prosecutors the right to get cellphone tracking information from wireless companies without first showing "probable cause" to believe that a crime has been or is being committed. That is the same standard applied to requests for search warrants. [...] Cellular operators like Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless know, within about 300 yards, the location of their subscribers whenever a phone is turned on.'"

2 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. What's being tracked... by reddish · · Score: 5, Insightful

    'Cellular operators like Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless know, within about 300 yards, the location of their subscribers whenever a phone is turned on.'

    They may be able to track the location of the telephone, or the SIM card,/b> but not the subscriber.

    A different thing alltogether - if you think about it. This cannot be used to locate a suspect on a crime scene, only her phone.

  2. Not too ambiguous by unknownideal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "If I'm on an investigation and I need to know where somebody is located who might be committing a crime . . ."

    I don't see what everyone's worried about. They just want to track anyone who might be commiting a crime.