US now allowing feds to track Americans by cell phone

Raw Story

Federal prosecutors are being granted the right to reach out and find someone by ‘pinging’ cellphones “upon request”, according to a front page article in Friday’s Washington Post.

“Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers,” Ellen Nakashima reports for the paper. “In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime.”

The article continues, “Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.”

(Original Article)