“Local, state and
federal law enforcement authorities made more than 1.3 million demands for
cell phone subscriber information last year, in a sign of their growing
reliance on technology to aid criminal and emergency investigations” (Nakashima, 2012). With more and more Americans carrying cell phones to communicate, law
enforcement officials will continue to order cell phone companies to help them
track data, in real-time, to assist them in catching fugitives and suspects.
Further, law enforcement officials will use this real-time tracking of data to
help them prevent crimes as well. With this access, law enforcement officials
can pin point anyone’s exact location, they can see a list of someone’s calls
made and calls received, they can see all of someone’s text and email messages
sent and received, and they can set wire taps to listen in on someone’s cell
phone conversations.
Judges have been
granting warrants to law enforcement officials for real-time tracking of cell
phone data without having to prove that there is probable cause that a crime is
taking place (Nakashima, 2012). Additionally, “the Obama administration
maintains that Americans have no expectation of privacy in cell-site records
because they are “in the possession of a third party” — the mobile phone
companies. What’s more, the authorities maintain
that the cell site data is not as precise as GPS tracking and there is no
trespass or physical intrusion on a customer’s cell phone when the government
obtains historical cell-site records from a provider” (Kravets, 2012). In fact,
just about one month ago an appellate court decision was made on this very
issue. The decision affirmed that obtaining a warrant without having to prove
probable cause to use real-time tracking of cell phone data to catch a suspect
and/or prevent a crime is valid, effectively creating legal precedent on this
issue. Thus, this ruling was a huge win for both law enforcement officials and
prosecutors alike. This is especially true because, the Supreme Court recently
ruled that you must prove probable cause that a crime has been or might be
committed to acquire a warrant for placing GPS trackers on a suspect’s vehicle.
As a result, both law enforcement officials and prosecutors will shift to
primarily using real-time tracking of cell phone data to catch suspects and/or
prevent crimes (Kravets, 2012). This should lead to a major increase in demands
for cell phone subscriber information.
With this
knowledge do you feel safer or do you feel like your privacy is being breached?
While law enforcement officials and prosecutors gaining legal precedent to use
real-time tracking of cell phone data without probable cause will potentially
lead to more arrests, many politicians are fighting this ruling. This is because
they believe that this judgment strips innocent Americans of some of their 4th
amendment rights. Particularly, the right to any judicial warrant granted must
be supported by probable cause. Representative Edward J. Markey
(Democrat-Massachusetts) speaking on the issue said, “we cannot allow privacy
protections to be swept aside with the sweeping nature of these information
requests, especially for innocent consumers…Law enforcement agencies are
looking for a needle, but what are they doing with the haystack?” (Nakashima, 2012). Personally, I agree with Representative Markey. Without having to prove probable
cause, law enforcement officials can go on wild goose chases when they sweep
through the data that they receive from the cell phone companies. This ruling
violates not only my privacy, but also my fellow Americans’. Additionally, it violates
our 4th Amendment right that any warrant obtained is required to be supported
by proof of probable cause. So, I will ask you again: do you feel safer or do
you feel like your privacy is being compromised.
