DOJ Needs Warrant To Track Your Cell's GPS History

MacRonin recommends a press release over at the EFF on their recent court victory affirming that cell phone location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment. Here is the decision (PDF). "In an unprecedented victory for cell phone privacy, a federal court has affirmed that cell phone location information stored by a mobile phone provider is protected by the Fourth Amendment and that the government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause before seizing such records. EFF has successfully argued before other courts that the government needs a warrant before it can track a cell phones location in real-time. However, this is the first known case where a court has found that the government must also obtain a warrant when obtaining stored records about a cell phones location from the mobile phone provider."

Comments

Re:In most jurisdictions that I know about

[rickb928]

In Arizona, it doesn't take but two red light tickets to get your license suspended. You can avoid this by taking traffic school which is a minimum of 8 hours. If you're not careful, you can find your license suspended, pay >$300, and still have points that leave you subject to a non-appealable suspension on another infraction. Not a 'no possible penalties' situation to me...

As an aside, AZ just enacted traffic laws making it illegal to traverse the 'gore area', that triangle where an exit ramp separates from the highway, for instance, and marked by solid lines. The fine is about $840. Yes, $840. Apparently we are bad people and are killing each other by passing and merging abruptly in these areas. The red light laws were stiffened because our previous Governor found in a study that we were dying due to running red lights at a rate higher than all the rest of the country, by a wide margin. So we're being fined into submission. Sounds like a good idea, eh?

And video tickets count toward that?

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

We have a similar thing for being ticketed x times for y violation here, but video tickets, at least here and CO don't go on your abstract. If a cop writes you a Red Light ticket though, you are basically SOL.

I have to say, I am all for it. I make it a priority to stop on yellow. I drive a pretty quick care, and I hate when people make me sit at a green light because they are trying to scoot through a recent red.

Now I just make it a game, and see how close I can come to hitting a red light runner so I can get a new paint job.

Though that would have backfired when a MOTORCYCLIST followed a city bus that ran a red light. Yup, the bus ran the light first, then the motorcycle drafted to it's behind. I was on a bicycle and almost hit the guy.