Supreme Court ruling in cell phone case is a victory for our privacy rights
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The Supreme Court struck a blow for privacy in the digital age Friday. Justices ruled 5-4 that the cell phone location data used to convict Timothy Carpenter of armed robbery – obtained by prosecutors from his wireless carrier – is subject to the protection of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
The question immediately before the high court in the case of Carpenter v. United States was whether law enforcement needs a search warrant to obtain such data – in this case, detailing Carpenter’s movements over 127 days. The court said a search warrant was needed. It also began to answer the larger, more profound question hanging over the case: will our constitutional right to privacy survive the technological advances of the modern era?
The good news is that the Supreme Court took a big step towards repairing that hole Friday. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court acknowledged that Fourth Amendment doctrines must evolve to account for “seismic shifts in digital technology.”
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