Court Set to Hear Case For/Against Governmental Cell Phone Tracking

We’ve been hearing the doomsday prophecies for years–whether by dollar bills or personal electronics, the government will be capable of tracking our every movement and intruding into every dark crevice of our lives. Now it wants to make this capability official.

The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia is set to hear official arguments in favor of the government’s ability to use wireless tracking in law enforcement. In the case, the Justice Department is pushing for the government in stating that individuals should have no expectation of privacy in their cell phones. The official laws relating to the matter are unclear, since they were written well before the prevalence of cell phones. Civil liberties groups like the ACLU will be opposing the government’s position.

The specific case revolves around an attempt by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to use cell phone tracking information in helping them to locate drug trafficking suspects. Pennsylvania U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Lenihan denied the agency’s ability to get the information without a search warrant and the Justice Department is now challenging that stance in the appeals court, stating that a search warrant should not be necessary for garnering location information from cell phone providers.

The appeals case will get underway tomorrow and promises to have huge potential impact on Fourth Amendment rights. [via CNET] [Photo: 20after4]