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Police Can Obtain Cellphone Location Records Without a Warrant

mi writes: A new ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found by a margin of 9-2 that law enforcement does not need to get a warrant to grab your cell phone's location records. The justices ruled that there is no expectation of privacy for your location when you're using a cell phone. This decision (PDF) was based on a case in which a man was convicted of robbery after months of location data was given to authorities by his cell phone carrier, MetroPCS. Police got the information using a court order, rather than a warrant, because there were less stringent requirements involved. One of the judges wrote: "We find no reason to conclude that cellphone users lack facts about the functions of cell towers or about telephone providers' recording cell tower usage."

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  1. This seems batshit crazy. by ArylAkamov · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No expectation of privacy when using a cellphone?

    This worries me. How long before no expectation of privacy when using the internet?

    When using a car? (GPS in modern cars)

    When do we have an expectation of privacy anymore?