No Warrant Needed to Get Service Provider To `Ping’ Cell Phone to Disclose Its Location

The Fourth Amendment does not require law enforcement officers to get a search warrant before having a cell phone service provider reveal the location of a subscriber’s phone, the Georgia Supreme Court decided Feb. 1. The court agreed with those courts in other jurisdictions that have treated global positioning system (GPS) technology as simply a more sophisticated version of the tracking “beeper” used in United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276 (1983). (Devega v. State)

The issue came before the Georgia high court in a case in which police detectives found a cell phone lying near a murder ...