cell phone location privacy State v. Earls
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Privacy of Cell Phone Location Data
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted review in Carpenter v. United States, a case concerning the privacy of cell phone location data. At issue is data that can be used to track cell phone users and whether police are required to obtain warrants to conduct these searches. A lower court ruled that the Fourth Amendment does not require officers to get a warrant before they obtain location records from a cell phone provider. In State v. Earls, EPIC successfully argued that a warrant is required under the New Jersey constitution. EPIC will file an amicus in Carpenter supporting the application of the warrant standard to obtain location data.