Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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In 5-2 ruling issued Tuesday, the states highest court clarified the issues, providing both a clear definition of the privacy of phone records in the digital age, and also affording prosecutors a road map to using those records in their case against Augustine.
The court said it was possible that if the data covered only a short period, then obtaining the records under the federal Stored Communications Act without a search warrant might be acceptable. But it said it was clear that in Augustines case, in which two weeks of data was obtained, the period was too long.
The tracking of the defendants movements in the urban Boston area for two weeks was more than sufficient to intrude upon the defendants expectation of privacy, said the Massachusetts court opinion, written by Justice Margot Botsford.
The ruling also makes Massachusetts the latest of several US states to set stricter limits on government access to citizens phone records.
In holding here that the Commonwealth generally must obtain a warrant before acquiring a persons historical [cellphone location] records, this opinion clearly announces a new rule, Botsford added.
The court returned the case to the lower court, , where it will allow the Suffolk County District Attorney to argue that the original affidavit from 2004 met was strong enough anyway to get a search warrant for Augustines records. If so, the records could still be used at trial.
State high court says warrants are needed for law enforcement to obtain cellphone location data - News Local Massachusetts - Boston.com
Nice job Massachusetts.
The court said it was possible that if the data covered only a short period, then obtaining the records under the federal Stored Communications Act without a search warrant might be acceptable. But it said it was clear that in Augustines case, in which two weeks of data was obtained, the period was too long.
The tracking of the defendants movements in the urban Boston area for two weeks was more than sufficient to intrude upon the defendants expectation of privacy, said the Massachusetts court opinion, written by Justice Margot Botsford.
The ruling also makes Massachusetts the latest of several US states to set stricter limits on government access to citizens phone records.
In holding here that the Commonwealth generally must obtain a warrant before acquiring a persons historical [cellphone location] records, this opinion clearly announces a new rule, Botsford added.
The court returned the case to the lower court, , where it will allow the Suffolk County District Attorney to argue that the original affidavit from 2004 met was strong enough anyway to get a search warrant for Augustines records. If so, the records could still be used at trial.
State high court says warrants are needed for law enforcement to obtain cellphone location data - News Local Massachusetts - Boston.com
Nice job Massachusetts.
