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Federal Judge Rules Tower Dumps Unconstitutional in Nevada Case
A federal judge in Nevada has declared that the practice of obtaining extensive cellular records through “tower dumps” infringes upon constitutional rights. However, despite this ruling, the judge has permitted the continued use of such evidence in courts, as previously highlighted by 404 Media and Court Watch.
Tower dumps allow law enforcement to access cell records from all devices that connected to a specific cell tower within a defined timeframe. While investigators may only seek information related to a single individual, this method often captures data from thousands of unsuspecting users, raising significant privacy concerns. A precedent for such concerns was set in a 2010 case involving the High Country Bandits, where investigators reviewed a tower dump that included over 150,000 phone numbers to identify two bank robbers.
In her ruling, Judge Miranda Du stated that the collection of these records constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Nevertheless, she rejected a motion to suppress the use of these records in court, noting that her court may be the first in the Ninth Circuit to arrive at such a conclusion, indicating that the “good faith exception” applies in this scenario.
The specific tower dump in question revealed data from 1,686 users and contributed to the prosecution of Cory Spurlock, a Nevada resident charged with conspiracy related to a murder plot as well as marijuana distribution. This ruling aligns with a similar decision made in February by a federal judge in Mississippi, who ruled that tower dumps were unconstitutional, effectively preventing FBI agents from accessing data from multiple cell towers that spanned nine locations and various carriers, as mentioned by Court Watch. Since that ruling, the Department of Justice has appealed the decision, indicating an ongoing debate over the balance between law enforcement needs and individual privacy rights.
Source
www.theverge.com