Fifth Circuit Says No Warrants Needed To Obtain Near-Real Time Cell Site Location Info
from the prospective-records-just-records-apparently dept
The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court has issued a ruling on cell site location data which basically gives the government permission to engage in real-time tracking without a warrant. The acquisition of historical cell site location data is still the source of much judicial dispute. But at the federal appellate level, courts that have handled these cases have decided no warrant is needed. Location records are just another thing law enforcement can have warrantless access to, thanks to the Third Party Doctrine.
Prospective location records, like those obtained in this case, have received less scrutiny. While ostensibly third party records, these allow for "real-time" tracking of individuals using records flowing directly to law enforcement almost as quickly as they're obtained by the cell service provider. A defendant tracked using this poor man's Stingray moved to have the evidence suppressed, arguing the near-real time warrantless "search" violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The court disagreed, finding the momentary landing at the service provider was enough to make them third party records, even if law enforcement was figuratively (or possibly literally) hovering over the cell provider's shoulder as the location records rolled in. From the ruling [PDF]:
There is little distinction between historical and prospective cell site data. As in Historical Cell Site Data, here the government sought “the disclosure of the locations of cell site towers being accessed by [Wallace’s] cell phone” as recorded in future records “captured, stored, recorded and maintained by the phone companies in the ordinary course of business.” “While this information is ‘prospective’ in the sense that the records had not yet been created at the time the order was authorized, it is no different in substance from the historical cell site information . . . at the time it is transmitted to the government.” Booker, 2013 WL 2903562, at *7. The information the government requested was, “in fact, a stored, historical record because it [was] received by the cell phone service provider and stored, if only momentarily, before being forwarded to law enforcement officials.”
So, as it stands here (and in other courts), the government is free to obtain phone records from the past and the future -- and, with a "momentary" landing, location records as they're produced. As the court states here, third party records are third party records, whether or not they've been created yet. Even if the officers were wrong about this, the good faith exception would have allowed them to keep the fruits of their search, according to the court.
It's not a great decision. It allows law enforcement to ask for nearly any cell site location records without stating more than a few "articulable facts." An order could be fashioned to serve as open-ended surveillance, allowing officers to track someone for an indefinite amount of time without ever showing a law enforcement need to do so. It also could serve as cover for Stingray use by providing a parallel set of "real-time" location records.
What the decision doesn't explicitly do is give law enforcement permission to deploy Stingrays without warrants. Stingrays turn the government into the "third party," which isn't an acceptable use of the Third Party Doctrine. But that's another area federal courts really haven't delved into yet -- not because Stingray use is so limited, but because the FBI-enforced secrecy surrounding cell tower spoofers has prevented defendants from mounting many successful challenges. Charges tend to be dismissed if defendants get too close to the truth.
It's a published opinion so it has a little precedential weight. But the opinion spends more time quoting other opinions than breaking much new ground here. Unfortunately, the ground broken here is more victim-blaming, reminding defendants it's their own fault they use cellphones, as if most cellphones users were keenly aware their phones act as tracking devices… and as if it weren't a massive law enforcement boon that all of this info can be had without a warrant, thanks to a doctrine in severe need of a massive update.
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Filed Under: 4th amendment, cell site location info, csli, searches, third party doctrine, warrants
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Techdirt creates legal time travel!
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I guess it would be perfectly fine for insurance companies to start tracking all government employees to ensure they are actually where they are supposed to be, considering the huge payouts in lawsuits each year.
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this is just another way those pesky leftists fight against themselves in their crusade to force their values upon everyone.
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Please define "Near" real time
Say, 500 milliseconds? Is that "near" real time enough?
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Virtual GPS Tracker
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Re: Virtual GPS Tracker
That "third-party" bull-dung.
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Same with cellphone tower spoofers: the manufacturer does not have the authority to operate them without warrant so they aren't useful for third party doctrine.
But the proper cellphone tower companies have, so you can just save the Stingray expense and proactively pull all cellphone connection records from all providers. No need to spoof at all. Or to write warrants.
The U.S. constitution is worth less than the Weimarer Verfassung was in the Third Reich. It's considered completely optional by now.
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See where I'm getting at?
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Or one of the trackers car insurance companies are starting to push.
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hail hitler
congrats
the united nazi states of america
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p.s.
you dipshits
now we gonna here everyone , we know all , see all hear all////
your all doomed
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Rental space on police computers?
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Inconceivable!
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Apart from the fact that that will turn off most of your apps, you can still be tracked by your cell signal. You need to turn off your phone and start living in the 1980's.
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Disconnecting from the link would mean instant death!
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The third party doctrine was always crap
But in today's world, we have no control over much of our information and cannot function without trusting some information to some organizations. It is more than unreasonable, it is an injustice to say that if you participate in the modern world, you give up nearly all your 4th Amendment rights. That outside your front door (and sometimes inside too), the 4th Amendment has been effectively repealed.
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Government Official: From this day forward, all citizens will carry a tracking device on them at all times. It will not only tell us where you are at any given moment, it will also tell us where you've been, allowing us to track your movements over long periods of time. It will also be equipped with a microphone that we can remotely turn on in order to listen to your private communications.
The People: This is an outrage! It's a complete invasion of our privacy and a violation of the Constitution! The people will never stand for this!
Government Official: It's called a "smart phone". Not only can you make calls from almost anywhere, it can also connect to the internet, play games, play music...
The People: GIMME! GIMME!
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"momentary" landings
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