Lawsuits target alleged government cellphone tracking

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Bush administration in federal court to obtain records on allegedly unchecked cellphone tracking by the government.
“This is a critical opportunity to shed much-needed light on possibly unconstitutional government surveillance techniques,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the ACLU and lead attorney on the case. “Signing up for cellphone services should not be synonymous with signing up to be spied on and tracked by the government.”
The ACLU said it sought records through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Department of Justice in November after media reports surfaced about government officials using citizens’ cellphones to zero in on their locations and monitor their movements – sometimes without a warrant or any court oversight. The DoJ, according to the ACLU, has not adequately responded to the FOIA request.
The ACLU said it asked the DoJ for documents, memos and guides regarding the policies and procedures for tracking individuals through the use of their mobile phones as well as information on the number of times the government has applied for cellphone location information without establishing probable cause and how many applications have been granted.
The ACLU pointed to news stories in which government officials claimed not to need probable cause to obtain real-time cellphone tracking information, with some federal law enforcement agents allegedly securing tracking data directly from wireless providers without any court oversight.
“The public has an overwhelming interest in the requested information, which concerns our most personal communications,” said David Sobel, EFF senior counsel and co-counsel on the case. “But remarkably, the Justice Department refused to respond quickly to the request, as the law requires when ‘urgent’ information is at issue. Further delay will allow important privacy policies to be developed behind closed doors.”
The Justice Department said it follows the law and takes its cues from the court.
“We have no immediate comment on the suit, but will be responding appropriately in court,” said Dean Boyd, a DoJ spokesman. “With respect to cell-tracking data in general, it is important to remember that the courts determine whether or not cell-site data or more precise cell location data can be turned over to law enforcement in a particular case. Law enforcement has absolutely no interest in tracking the locations of law-abiding citizens. Instead, law enforcement goes through the courts to lawfully obtain data to help locate criminal suspects, sometimes in cases where lives are literally hanging in the balance, such as a child abduction case or a serial murderer on the loose.”
This latest controversy arises just as Congress and the Bush administration begin to show progress on post-9/11 wiretap legislation that could give privacy litigation relief to the parent companies of AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless and to Sprint Nextel Corp. The companies face dozens of class-action lawsuits stemming their participation in a once-secret surveillance program approved by President Bush and conducted by the National Security Agency shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.