He Won a Landmark Case for Privacy Rights. He's Going to Prison Anyway. [telecom]

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Those who score big victories for the civil liberties of every American sometimes lose their own freedom.

By Cristian Farias

Timothy Carpenter won't be remembered for the circumstances that landed him in prison, but for the Supreme Court case that bears his name.

Carpenter v. United States, which set a new benchmark for privacy in the digital age, requires the police to obtain a warrant before obtaining cellphone location history from a phone company. Privacy advocates hailed the ruling, and saw in it the potential for broader protections for personal data in the digital age.