Defending Privacy, Supreme Court Says Warrants Generally Are Necessary to Collect Cell Phone Data

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WASHINGTON — In a major statement on privacy in the digital age, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the government generally needs a warrant to collect troves of location data about the customers of cellphone companies.

“We decline to grant the state unrestricted access to a wireless carrier’s database of physical location information,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.

The 5-to-4 decision has implications for all kinds of personal information held by third parties, including email and text messages, internet searches, and bank and credit card records. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said the ruling was limited.

“We hold only that a warrant is required in the rare case where the suspect has a legitimate privacy interest in records held by a third party,” the chief justice wrote. The court’s four more liberal members — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — joined his opinion.

Read More from the New York Times Here

Major US Carriers Each Vow to End Broker Data Sales

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AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint on Tuesday joined Verizon in pledging to end the sales of device location data to third-party brokers.

Verizon indicated it would end its relationships with brokers LocationSmart and Zumigo in response to an inquiry from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Verizon said in a letter to the senator that the practice resulted in some 75 companies acquiring data about its customers.

Wyden praised Verizon’s response and said the replies from its rivals suggested they “seem content to continue to sell their customers’ private information to these shady middle men, Americans’ privacy be damned.”

But within hours, each of the remaining three major carriers informed the Associated Press they planned to take similar steps.

Read More from Wirelessweek.com Here

Federal Officials: Prison Cellphone Jamming Test a Success

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Federal officials say they conducted a successful test earlier this year of a jamming technology some hope will help combat the threat posed by inmates with smuggled cellphones.

A report obtained Friday by The Associated Press details the January 17 test of micro-jamming technology at a federal prison in Cumberland, Maryland. Officials say they were able to shut down phone signals inside a prison cell, while devices about 20 feet away worked normally.

For years, officials in state and federal prisons have spoken out about the dangers posed by cellphones in the hands of inmates, who can use them to continue criminal endeavors behind bars, including drug trafficking, extortion scams, and even attacks on witnesses and others. Officials including South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling have advocated jamming, which renders cell signals useless.

Read More from Wireleesweek.com Here

Apple Sets Up iPhones to Relay Location for 911 Calls

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Apple is trying to drag the U.S.’s antiquated system for handling 911 calls into the 21st century.

If it lives up to Apple’s promise, the iPhone’s next operating system will automatically deliver quicker and more reliable information pinpointing the location of 911 calls to about 6,300 emergency response centers in the U.S.

Apple is trying to solve a problem caused by the technological mismatch between a 50-year-old system built for landlines and today’s increasingly sophisticated smartphones.

An estimated 80 percent of roughly 240 million emergency calls in the U.S. this year will come from mobile phones, most of which are capable of precisely tracking where their users are.

Emergency calling centers, however, don’t get that detailed location information from mobile 911 calls. Instead, they get the location of the cellular tower transmitting the call, and must rely on other methods to figure out where the caller is.

Read More from Forensic Magazine Here

Investigators unable to break into cellphone belonging to man accused of killing deputy

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New details surrounding the killing of Adams County sheriff’s deputy Heath Gumm were released Monday during a preliminary hearing. Suspect Dreion Dearing listened as prosecutors continued to lay out their case against him. Family members of the fallen deputy were in the courtroom.

“The hardest part is just seeing the rest of my family go through it … but also their strength is very helpful,” Gumm’s cousin, Aaron Milner, said. The court case stems from a reported assault near Thornton in late January. Gumm was one of multiple deputies who responded.

Gumm eventually was led on a foot chase by Dearing — one of the assault suspects, according to prosecutors. Deputy William Booker, who was next Gumm when shots were fired, testified that Gumm shouted to Dearing, “It’s the police, stop running, don’t be stupid.”

Read More from Fox 31 Denver Here