Warrants not required for police to get your cell phone cell-site records

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/warrants-not-required-for-police-to-get-your-cell-phone-cell-site-records/

The majority ruling by Judge Frank Hull is a big boost to the government. Warrantless cell-site tracking has become among the government’s preferred methods of electronically tracking suspects in the wake of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that the authorities generally needed a warrant to attach GPS devices onto vehicles and track their every move…

But what a different a larger panel of judges makes when it comes to deciding the constitutionality of so-called § 2703(d) orders:

The stored telephone records produced in this case, and in many other criminal cases, serve compelling governmental interests. Historical cell tower location records are routinely used to investigate the full gamut of state and federal crimes…

Such evidence is particularly valuable during the early stages of an investigation, when the police lack probable cause…