Groups File Amicus Brief Urging Massachusetts Courts To Close Loophole for Warrantless Cellphone Tracking

The Electronic Frontier Foundation asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to close a loophole in the state’s warrant requirements for cellphones in an amicus brief filed last week, EFF Staff Attorney Andrew Crocker said in a blog post Monday. The court “issued a landmark decision” last year in Commonwealth v. Augustine, by requiring police to obtain a search warrant “before they can track individuals’ past movements using information from their cell phones,” Crocker said. Massachusetts courts have interpreted language in the decision as a loophole to let law enforcement collect cell site location information (CSLI) for a period of six hours or less without a warrant, Crocker said. The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts helped the EFF file its brief, which said even small amounts of location data can be revealing and that Americans are entitled to an expectation of privacy.