US government sued over cell phone tracking

Gov’t Sued Over Cell Phone Tracking
by William Fisher

NEW YORK – If you are a U.S. resident who owns a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a court case that “could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you – even if it hasn’t shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime.”

That was the warning issued to the public by several major civil liberties organizations as they appeared in federal court in Philadelphia to argue for more privacy protections in the use of cell phones as tracking devices by law enforcement agents.

The case is at the heart of the constitutional crisis now being played out in the U.S. federal court. Civil liberties groups are asking the court to require that the government show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.

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