Cell phone tracking "perverse," "misleading," "contrived," "unsupported" by law
Two recent federal court decisions show that the U.S. Department of Justice has routinely been tracking the locations of people by using their wireless phones’ GPS capabilities, without having probable cause to believe a crime had been committed.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which was involved in both cases, released a statement Thursday condemning the practice.
“This is a true victory for privacy in the digital age, where nearly any mobile communications device you use might be converted into a tracking device,” said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. “Combined with a similar decision this month from a federal court in Texas, I think we’re seeing a trend — judges are starting to realize that when it comes to surveillance issues, the DOJ has been pulling the wool over their eyes for far too long.”
“Now that all of those judges know just how misled they were, we’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more published decisions that expose the Justice Department’s overreaching surveillance practices,” said Bankston.
Phone Watch also goes on record as condemning the practice. The standard of “probable cause” was intended to be a bright, clear line showing exactly when law enforcement can perform a search or seizure. The Department of Justice’s misuse of the All Writs Act to bypass this requirement is not only contrary to law, it is reprehensible, and I welcome its end.
