by Nicholas Lavino
(CN) - Police do not need a warrant to acquire cellphone-location data from wireless companies, the en banc Fourth Circuit ruled Monday, dealing a blow to privacy rights.
The full court heard the case after its three-judge panel split the other way on the issue last year in United States v. Graham. In that
2015 majority opinion, the panel said consumers have a reasonable expectation of the privacy of their cellphone location data, especially for data covering a long period of time.Tuesday's 12-3 ruling now says retrieving cellphone location data does not violate the right to privacy.
Police used 221 days of geographic data to secure convictions against Aaron Graham and Eric Jordan, who were put on trial in 2011 for a string of armed robberies committed in Baltimore and Baltimore County.
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