A federal district court judge in western Pennsylvania made what could possibly wind up being a precedent setting ruling last week, with him stating that the government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause of criminal activity before asking a carrier to provide cellphone location data.
The ruling specifically addressed historical cellphone tower location data, which the government had argued was no different than routine transactional records (like past credit card transactions), and therefore should not require probable cause.
While the EFF and ACLU are both praising the ruling, it looks like it’s not quite settled just yet, with a Justice department spokesperson saying that the government is still “considering options” on an appeal.
