Feds push for tracking cell phones

From news.cnet.com (February 11):

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.

In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls. [read more]

The article does not state why the Obama administration wants to track cell phone locations. For national security for instance? Who knows. It's good to see the ACLU concerned about this issue. At least they are being consistent.

On a side note, your cell phone can still be tracked even when it is off.