In re Application of the United States for Historical Cell Site Data

In re Application of the United States for Historical Cell Site Data
Court	United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Decided	July 30, 2013
Citation(s)	724 F.3d 600
Holding
Court orders under the Stored Communications Act compelling cell phone service providers to disclose historical cell site location information are not per se unconstitutional.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Thomas Morrow Reavley, James L. Dennis, Edith Brown Clement
Case opinions
Majority	Edith Brown Clement, joined by Thomas Morrow Reavley
Dissent	James L. Dennis
Laws applied
Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. § 2703(d)), Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

In re Application of the United States for Historical Cell Site Data, 724 F.3d 600 (5th Cir. 2013), was a case in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the government can access cell site records without a warrant. Specifically, the court held that court orders under the Stored Communications Act compelling cell phone providers to disclose historical cell site information are not per se unconstitutional.^[1]

Section 2703(d) of the Stored Communications Act allows law enforcement agents to obtain court orders for cell site information without a warrant.^[2] Privacy advocates argued that the Act was unconstitutional because it violated callers' reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. The court held that cell site information is a "business record" that callers voluntarily convey to their phone service providers. Since information voluntarily conveyed to third parties receives weaker protection under the Fourth Amendment, the court held that section 2703(d) of the Stored Communications Act is not per se unconstitutional.

The New York Times called the case "a significant victory for law enforcement."^[3] The Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote that the opinion was based on a "misguided belief that a user understands and voluntarily chooses to reveal their location to the cell phone provider and ultimately the government through the user's own free will."^[4]