4
The signal between a phone and a satellite may be interrupted in urban areas or when the phone is indoors. The
U.S. Government is modernizing GPS, working on adding second and third civilian GPS signals as well as Assisted
GPS (A-GPS) technology to provide increased accuracy and reliability.
5
Interestingly, iPhones do not have GPS chips.
6
See In re the Application of the United States for an Order Authorizing the Installation and Use of a Pen Register,
402 F. Supp. 2d. 597, 599 (D. Md. 2005). Records stored by a wireless service provider that detail the location of a
cell phone in the past (i.e., prior to the entry of a court order authorizing government acquisition) are known as
“historical” cell site information. Historical data is outside the scope of this article; it can be obtained using a
subpoena or warrant, upon a demonstration of “reasonable grounds to believer” that the information is “relevant and
material to an ongoing criminal investigation.” See 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d).
7
Jurisdictions presently adhering to the probable cause standard include: the Southern District of Texas, the District
of Maryland, the Western District of Louisiana, the Eastern and Western Districts of New York, the District of
Columbia, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. There is also an unreported decision from the Northern District of
Indiana.
8
Jurisdictions in which the minority view governs include: the Southern District of New York and the Southern
District of West Virginia. A magistrate judge in the Eastern District of California has held that it is not necessary to
obtain a
warrant based on probable cause for cell site information, at least where the cell phone
user being tracked is outside of a place where he or she has an expectation of privacy
.
9
18 U.S.C. § 3121-3127. This statute is also known as Title III of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of
1986 (ECPA).
10
Specifically, 18. U.S.C. §2703. This statute is also known as the Title II of the ECPA.
11
47 U.S.C. § 1002.
12
18 U.S.C. § 3117(b).
13
18 U.S.C. § 3117(a).
14
In re the Application of the United States for an Order (1) Authorizing the Use of a Pen Register and a Trap and
Trace Device and (2) Authorizing the Release of Subscriber Information and/or Cell Site Information, 411 F. Supp.
2d 678 (W.D.La. 2006); see also In re Application for an Order Authorizing the Extension and Use of a Pen Register
Device, 2007 WL 397129 (E.D.Cal. 2007) (“[T]he device contemplated [when the tracking device statute was
passed in 1986] was only of the ‘beeper’ variety . . . No use of cell phones and cell towers for tracking was expressly
contemplated, and perhaps was not even possible in 1986.”).
15
See In re Pen Register & Trap/Trace Device with Cell Site Location Auth., 396 F. Supp. 2d 747, 754 (S.D. Tex.
2005) (“While the cell phone was not originally conceived as a tracking device, law enforcement converts it to that
purpose by monitoring cell site data.”).
16
See In re Application of the United States of America for an Order Authorizing the Installation and Use of a Pen
Register, 402 F. Supp. 2d 597 (D. Md. 2005); Cell Site Location Auth., 396 F. Supp. 2d 747.
17
See In re Application of the United States of America, 402 F. Supp. 2d at n.10 (“[t]he Government cannot
guarantee that [a] cell phone and its possessor will remain in a public place,” which the court warns may result in an
invasion of privacy).
18
See id. at 605 (“When the Government seeks to acquire and use real time cell site information to identify the
location and movement of a phone and its possessor in real time, the court will issue a warrant upon a sworn
affidavit demonstrating probable cause to believe the information will yield evidence of a crime. The court will not
enter an order authorizing disclosure of real time cell site information under authority other than Rule 41, nor upon a
showing of less than probable cause.”); See also Cell Site Location Auth.
, 396 F. Supp. 2d at 757 (“As in any
tracking situation, it is impossible to know in advance whether the requested phone monitoring will invade the
target's Fourth Amendment rights. The mere possibility of such an invasion is sufficient to require the prudent
prosecutor to seek a Rule 41 search warrant.”).
19
18 U.S.C. § 3121.
20
18 U.S.C. §§ 2703(c)(1) and 2703(d).
21
See In re United States for Order for Prospective Cell Site Location Information, 460 F. Supp. 2d 448, 462
(S.D.N.Y. 2006).
22
The Wireless Communication and Public Safety Act of 1999, Pub. L. No. 106-81, § 5, 113 Stat. 1288 (Oct. 26,
1999) (codified at 47 U.S.C. § 222(f)).
23
Jefferson Graham, Apple Says IPhone Sales Hit 270,000 in First Two Days, USA TODAY, July 26, 2007, at 1B.