February 8, 2010

Major Cell Phone Privacy Case on 3rd Circuit Docket This Week

by Molly McDonough
The ABA Journal

A closely watched privacy rights case is before the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which this week will hear arguments about the proper legal standard to apply when prosecutors seek cell phone location data.

The global positioning data, recorded regularly whenever a cell phone is turned on, track the whereabouts and the comings and goings of every cell phone user.

At issue is what standard—"reasonable grounds" or "probable cause"—prosecutors need to show in order to obtain the data.

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