Court OKs Warrantless Cell-Site Tracking

A federal appeals court said Sept 7 that the government may obtain cell-site information that mobile phone carriers retain on their customers without a probable-cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment.

But lower courts, the three-judge panel wrote, could demand the government show probable cause -- the warrant standard -- before requiring carriers to release such data to the feds. The opinion does leaves the privacy issue in a legal limbo of sorts. The standard by which the government can access such records -- which can be used in criminal prosecutions -- is left to the whims of district court judges. Historical cell-site location information, which carriers usually retain for about 18 months, identifies the cell tower to which the customer was connected at the beginning of a call and at the end of the call.