Federal court: no warrant is required for law enforcement to track your location via cell phone recordsMadison Ruppert This is hardly a surprising decision given that other judges have said that cell phone users have no legitimate expectation of privacy, some in the house have said no warrant should be required to acquire geolocation data, and the Obama administration claims location data is not protected by the Fourth Amendment. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans supported this trend earlier the week by overturning a federal judge in Houston, according to the Wall Street Journal. The court ruled that cell phone records are the property of your carrier and thus are not protected by the Fourth Amendments probable cause standard. However, authorities must still get a court order in order to carry out a search of your cell phone records, though the standards are much lower than those required for search warrants. Those searches are now capable of tracking your recent movements since location data is included. We understand the cell phone users may reasonably want their location information to remain private, the Appeals Court stated, according to an Associated Press report. The Fourth Amendment, safeguarded by the courts, protects only reasonable expectations of privacy, the court ruled. Unsurprisingly, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which participated in the case by filing legal briefs, called the ruling troubling. Cell phone companies store records on where each of us have been, often stretching back for years, the ACLU continued. That location information is sensitive and can reveal a great deal what doctors people visit, where they spend the night, who their friends are, and where they worship. Given the sensitivity of these facts, law enforcement agents should have to demonstrate to a judge that they have a good reason to believe that they will turn up evidence of wrongdoing before gaining access to information that can paint a detailed picture of where a person has been over time, the ACLU argued. This article first appeared at End the Lie. Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis databaseEnd The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCYTV Monday nights 7 PM 9 PM PT/10 PM 12 AM ET. Show page link here: http://UCY.TV/EndtheLie. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 