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Cellphone data can't be collected without warrant, court rules

By Doug G. Ware

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday the government must have a warrant in order to spy on or obtain data from citizens' cellphones.

The split decision in United States v. Graham says obtaining cellular data qualifies as a "search" -- and thereby conducting such searches without a court order is unconstitutional according to the Fourth Amendment.

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The case could go to the Supreme Court,, some experts believe, for a landmark ruling. Previous courts in the Third, Fifth and Eleventh circuits have ruled differently on the issue.

The Graham case stems from a series of robberies in Baltimore in which authorities attempted to pinpoint a suspect's physical location by using data from his cellphone.

In Wednesday's 2-to-1 decision, the court said ordering a cell provider to hand over records qualifies as a Fourth Amendment search because "society recognizes an individual's privacy interest in her movements over an extended time period.

"We conclude that the government's warrantless procurement of the [cell site location information] was an unreasonable search in violation of appellants' Fourth Amendment rights," Judge Andre Davis wrote on behalf of the majority.

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"Cellphone users have an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy in this information."

The decision is a victory for privacy advocates who fear the government has too much authority in spying on Americans' cellular activities -- an issue that was compounded by Edward Snowden's disclosures last year that federal entities like the National Security Agency regularly monitor cellphone data of potential terror suspects.

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