The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it will appeal a groundbreaking court ruling that deemed the widespread collection of cell phone tower data by law enforcement unconstitutional.
A Blow to Law Enforcement’s Use of Tower Dumps
On February 21, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Harris refused to authorize search warrants that would have allowed FBI investigators to collect large-scale, indiscriminate cell phone data from nine cell phone towers in a probe targeting a violent gang in the area.
Harris ruled that these “tower dumps”—which involve pulling historical data from all mobile devices connected to a cell tower at a given time—qualify as a search under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, they are subject to probable cause requirements that protect individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures.
“If the Court were to issue the warrants, it would be authorizing the Government to search the data for every cellular device (including cell phones) of every single individual near the crime scenes without a showing of probable cause as to each individual,” the ruling stated.
“Stated another way, the Government is essentially asking the Court to allow it access to an entire haystack because it may contain a needle.”
A Legal Precedent with National Implications
This decision could set a major precedent, as law enforcement agencies across the country frequently use tower dumps to investigate crimes. No court had previously ruled against the use of tower dumps, though a federal appeals court ruled in August that a related practice—geofence warrants—was unconstitutional.
In seeking an extension to file their appeal, federal prosecutors argued that the ruling involves a “rather novel issue” that requires additional time to build their case.
The DOJ must submit its appeal by March 21.
This case was first reported by Court Watch, which also broke news of the DOJ’s appeal plans.
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