Federal appeals court rules search warrants not needed to seize cellphone records

[aGameOfThrones]

Cast your memory back to 2011 and you may remember a Texas judge ruling that the seizure of cellphone records without a search warrant violated the Fourth Amendment. Fast-forward to today, and the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has just overturned that very decision, arguing that law enforcement's collection of such data does not violate the Fourth Amendment, and doesn't need to pass the probable cause test. Instead, as the info is considered a service provider's business records, authorities can get ahold of it so long as they have "reasonable grounds" and obtain a court order. The data in question can include numbers dialed, the date and time of communications and info allowing officials to suss out the phone's location at the time of a call.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/31/federal-appeals-court-no-warrants-for-cellphone-records/

[devil21]

So the appeals court says that mass tracking by cell companies is constitutional as long as the records are obtained by LE with proper court orders. SCOTUS will consider this and it'll probably end in a 5-4 ruling that it's ok.

You see, the data is property of the cell phone company, not the gov't, so court orders and subpoenas are actually in line with law to obtain specific information as part of an investigation. What is not in line is the mass funneling of data DIRECTLY to the feds without subpoenas and court orders, as the NSA is doing.

[better-dead-than-fed]

here is the court's "opinion" (http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/11/11-20884-CV0.wpd.pdf)

[GunnyFreedom]

Came to post this story and searched up this thread

http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4574184/5th-circuit-court-rules-no-search-warrant-needed-for-location-data

Dunno if this is the same ruling or not, but this one seems to center specifically on cellphone location data, and one of the primary arguments is that because the government does not require citizens to own cellphones, therefore they do not need a warrant to seize your historic location data.


The Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that historical cellphone location data is not protected by the Fourth Amendment, allowing police to access the data without a search warrant. The court says that such the information is "clearly a business record" that belongs to carriers, noting that "the government does not require a member of the public to own or carry a phone... the government merely comes in after the fact and asks a provider to turn over records the provider has already created."

Read More (http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4574184/5th-circuit-court-rules-no-search-warrant-needed-for-location-data)

ETA - read the 'opinion' and yes, it is the same ruling. :mad:

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

the government doesn't require somebody to subscribe for internet service

[Contumacious]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/31/federal-appeals-court-no-warrants-for-cellphone-records/

A Reminder that we no longer have an Article III Judiciary - the judiciary has been reduced to a cabinet level executive agency .

.

[Contumacious]

So the appeals court says that mass tracking by cell companies is constitutional as long as the records are obtained by LE with proper court orders. .

About time, software that will allow Americans to tell the NSA and federal "courts" to go fuck themselves:


The Threat of Silence (http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/02/silent_circle_s_latest_app_democratizes_encryption _governments_won_t_be.html)

Meet the groundbreaking new encryption app set to revolutionize privacy and freak out the feds.

By Ryan Gallagher|Posted Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at 12:21 PM



For the past few months, some of the world’s leading cryptographers have been keeping a closely guarded secret about a pioneering new invention. Today, they’ve decided it’s time to tell all.

Back in October, the startup tech firm Silent Circle ruffled governments’ feathers with a “surveillance-proof” smartphone app to allow people to make secure phone calls and send texts easily. Now, the company is pushing things even further—with a groundbreaking encrypted data transfer app that will enable people to send files securely from a smartphone or tablet at the touch of a button. (For now, it’s just being released for iPhones and iPads, though Android versions should come soon.) That means photographs, videos, spreadsheets, you name it—sent scrambled from one person to another in a matter of seconds."

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[ZENemy]

it is becoming INCREASINGLY Obvious that a "Peaceful" Revolution is getting farther and farther out of the Question.

[DamianTV]

Advice: when you revolt, dont bring your Cell Phones to battle.

[ZENemy]

Advice: when you revolt, dont bring your Cell Phones to battle.

Password and encrypt also! It wont STOP everyone but it will slow down most.

[GunnyFreedom]

Advice: when you revolt, dont bring your Cell Phones to battle.

That's why they make faraday pouches. :D

[DamianTV]

That's why they make faraday pouches. :D

Just so people know basically what a Faraday Cage is...

What is a Faraday Cage?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqvImbn9GG4

IE wrap your Cell Phone in Tin Foil.
(here we go on the Tin Foil hat jokes...)

[69360]

burner phones. you can buy them for $10 at the dollar stores with cash and buy airtime cards cash. your name is not in the cell provider's records. at least make it hard for the feds

[presence]

No cell phone. Check.