Franken presses Justice Department to explain phone-tracking practices
THE HILL
Brendan Sasso | May 10, 2012
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked the Justice Department on Thursday to explain its practices for gathering data on people’s cellphone locations.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Franken asked how often the Justice Department requests that wireless carriers turn over the location data of their customers and what legal standard the department believes should apply.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report last month that found that local police across the country regularly gather cellphone location data, often without a warrant. The ACLU called the practice “pervasive and frequent.”
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in United States v. Jones that tracking a suspect’s car using a GPS device qualifies as a search under the Fourth Amendment.
Tags: Fourth Amendment, GPS, law enforcement, Privacy