DownTheAvenue wrote:
I think I plainly mentioned a search warrant. It is purely an administrative decision of the cell phone carrier whether to provide cell phone records with a warrant or subpoena. They are private, for profit entities, and are not bound by Constitutional mandates. There is no law, to my knowledge, that makes releasing the records criminal. From a legal position, a company would be very foolish releasing records unless compelled to do so by a subpoena or warrant because to do so without that legal protection would open them up to legal liabilities.
Fair enough. Unless you are physically searching the phone (turning it on and accessing data upon the phone) a search warrant isn't needed.
In order to retrieve basic information such as subscriber info, incoming/outgoing calls and texts, every company that provides such service in the United States requires only a subpoena to obtain that info.
In order to retrieve more specific information such as GPS or cell tower info, most companies now require a court order (similar in theory to a search warrant, but completely different in terms of the law) signed by a judge or magistrate.
You can find out from your service provider what info they obtain, what they keep, what they share, for what reasons they will share and what documentation is required in order for them to provide. I don't think there is any universal LAW that stipulates how and when they provide info. I think the policies are simply growing as technology changes. Most companies have adapted similar policies limiting their liability.
Either way... none of that information is available on the side of the road to a police officer. The rest of these details are simply semantics :).
