Florida Rules Police Need Warrant To Nab Cell Location Data

Your everyday devices, particularly smartphones, betray aspects of your privacy in many ways, not the least of which is transmitting location information that law enforcement, among others, has regularly used in the pursuit of suspects. Such activity has caused vast outcries about privacy concerns and rights violations, something Florida has taken to heart. In a recent ruling, the state's Supreme Court has decided that police must get a warrant before using cell tower data to get location information on individuals.

The ruling revolves around the methods law enforcement use to grab smartphone users' data from cell towers, allowing them to bypass the hassle of going through telecommunications companies. This isn't a new process, and its use hasn't been limited to law enforcement. Often times, this is performed without a warrant.

Civil liberties organizations and individuals alike have challenged this method of data collection, pointing out that tracking the cell phone data of suspects could potentially reveal intimate details about their lives. Many jurisdictions are looking into the matter, but Florida has gone so far as to forbid it without a warrant.

The ruling judges rejected the argument that there is no expectation of privacy regarding the information that is collected, saying, "Simply because the cell phone user knows or should know that his cell phone gives off signals that enable the service provider to detect its location ... does not mean that the user is consenting to use of that location information by third parties for any other unrelated purposes."

SOURCE: Wired