Astounding blow to privacy from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. See here.
For years the government has been arguing that any information you give up to a “3rd party” is not “private.” Thus, the government may intercept it without so much as a warrant.
Although warrants are necessary for government to tap one’s land-line phone, the government argued that cell phone transmissions are essentially like radio broadcasts. And the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has now agreed with the government!
The implications of this decision are far-reaching. If no one has any expectation of privacy in cell phone calls, the government may freely track almost everyone’s movements without warrant.
And land lines are increasingly obsolete. Virtually everyone uses cell phones for most of their telecommunications today.
