The Supreme Court ruled today the police have to have a search warrant to use GPS data.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/01/23/what-does-the-supreme-court-gps-ruling-mean-for-privacy/ This came from a case where the cops planted a tracking device on a perp's car then used it's data to arrest and charge him for drug trafficking. The court said this violates the 4th amendment against unreasonable search & seizure. Mark one up for freedom. I hope this also means the cops will have to stop confiscating data from smart phones with their special downloading devices. This may be an important ruling of our rights laws catching up with technology.
Or maybe not. From the above link, "The opinions, when taken together, read as though the justices are basically asking for a better case that allows them to look at the issue of electronic surveillance. With the increasing use of this type of tracking, they should have that case soon enough."
