U.S. Supreme Court Bolsters Mobile-Phone Privacy Rights
- Court says prosecutors need warrant to get phone location data
- Roberts joins court’s liberals in majority of 5-4 decision
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Law enforcement officials generally need a warrant to get mobile-phone tower records that show someone’s location over an extended period, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a decision that bolsters digital privacy rights.
Voting 5-4, the court ruled Friday in favor of Timothy Ivory Carpenter, who said prosecutors violated the Constitution when they obtained four months of phone data and used it at trial to show he was near the sites of a string of armed robberies. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberals in the majority.