Senate to Reconsider Warrantless Cell Phone Searches

Over the past few years, police have realized that cell phone data -- such as text messages and GPS coordinates -- are useful tools in criminal cases, and a privacy battle regarding such information has ensued. In some cases, courts allowed warrantless cell phone searches; in other instances, courts threw out police-obtained cell phone data, citing the Fourth Amendment. But a blanket ruling on how courts interpret the use of such data in their cases could occur on Nov. 29, when a Senate committee will consider limited changes to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).