Reply to Federal court rules police warrantless tracking of cell phones is unconstitutional

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[quote=Anonymous]Link:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/d-c-court-rules-warrant-is-required-for-stingray-cell-phone-tracking/

Law enforcement use of one tracking tool, the cell-site simulator, to track a suspect's phone without a warrant violates the Constitution, the D.C. Court of Appeals said Thursday in a landmark ruling for privacy and Fourth Amendment rights as they pertain to policing tactics.

The ruling could have broad implications for law enforcement's use of cell-site simulators, which were increasingly deployed during the Obama administration.  The prior administration defended the use of such technology, and resisted the ACLU's attempts to learn more about its use.

Stingray technology allows local police (including Alrington, VA) and federal agencies to mimic a cell phone tower to the phone connect to the device instead of its regular network.

In a decision that reversed the decision of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and overturned the conviction of a robbery and sexual assault suspect, the D.C. Court of Appeals determined the use of the cell-site simulator "to locate a person through his or her cellphone invades the person's actual, legitimate and reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her location information and is a search."

The Fourth Amendment guarantees, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The technology often captures non-suspect cell phones in locations where it is used. The information obtained is permanently stored on police information systems for possible future law enforcement use.

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