Tracking phone location requires a warrant, rules court

Quartavious Davis sentenced for 1,941 months under counts of  Hobbs Act robbery, appeals for grounds of reversal to Court of Appeals for 11th circuit with principal argument that court admitted the location evidence based on stored cell site which obtained without the warrant which is a Violation of Fourth Amendment Rights.

The Court believed that using a particular subsection of law to obtain information is not appropriate and stated warrant-less mining of location data is unconstitutional. Though the defendant constitutional rights are violated, the court kept the verdict same from previous court.

ALCU responsed with the following statement :

The court’s opinion is a resounding defense of the Fourth Amendment’s continuing vitality in the digital age. The court soundly repudiates the government’s argument that by merely using a cell phone, people somehow surrender their privacy rights.

United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled that cell phone location tracking requires a warrant  since  cell phone location data is included as part of a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment Rights. In short this case has already struck one victory for privacy advocates.

Via Engadget