Brief filed: 07/17/2013
Documents
United States v. Davis
11th Circuit Court of Appeals; Case No. 12-12928
Argument(s)
Warrantless acquisition of long-term historical cell site location information violated defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. Defendants’ cell site location information obtained by the government reveals invasive and accurate information about their location and movements over time. Obtaining 67 days’ worth of cell phone location data is a “search” under the Fourth Amendment requiring a warrant based upon probable cause. Cell phone providers’ ability to access customers’ location data does not eliminate cell phone users’ reasonable expectation of privacy in that data. Even if the good faith exception applies, this court should decide the Fourth Amendment question.
Author(s)
Catherine Crump, Ben Wizner, and Nathan Freed Wessler (admission pending), ACLU Foundation, New York, NY.