United States Third Circuit

In the government's application for a court order pursuant to a provision of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) to compel an unnamed cell phone provider to produce a customer's "historical cellular tower data," also known as cell sit location information (CSLI), the Magistrate Judge's (MJ) denial of the application is vacated and remanded as the CSLI from cell phone call is obtainable under a section 2703(d) order and such an order does not require the traditional probable cause determination. Here, the MJ erred in allowing her impressions of the general expectation of privacy of citizens to transform that standard into anything else, as the legislative history provides ample support for the proposition that the standard is an intermediate one that is less stringent than probable cause.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/12/2010
• Decided 09/07/2010
• Published 09/07/2010

Judges

• SLOVITER

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mary Beth Buchanan, Lisa B. Freeland