Eleventh Circuit Court to Rule on Cell Phone Tower Data

While cell phone towers connect people from across the world, sometimes companies use that data without permission (whether that’s a crime is to be determined). Using data collected from cell networks has been a highly debated topic, but on February 24 the Eleventh Court Circuit is set for an en banc review of an earlier decision by the panel where the court ruled it was a constitutional violation to access an individual’s cellular data without a search warrant. An “en banc” is a session where the case is heard before all the judges of a court, rather than by a selected panel. Matthew Adams of Fox Rothschild LLP first noted this en banc review from a docket entry from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in USA v. Quartavious Davis. This case involves Quartavious Davis who was sentenced to 162 years in prison after police arrested him for an armed robbery spree. The police used 11,606 location records, obtained without a warrant, to locate Davis and connect him to these robberies. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, in 2010, the government obtained four people’s cell phone location records over a 67-day period in a criminal investigation in Florida, without a warrant. AT&T Mobility has filed amicus curiae in support of Davis’ position. An amicus curiae is filed by someone who is not a party to a case, who offers information that bears on the case.