Cellphone Search Warrants Should Be ‘Narrowly Tailored’: EFF

The Aug. 22 decision at the 5th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court in U.S. v. Morton giving law enforcement broad discretion in searching individuals’ cell phones, was “a setback to the privacy protections for cell phones recognized” in the 2014 Supreme Court case Riley v. California, blogged Jennifer Lynch, Electronic Frontier Foundation surveillance litigation director. “Cell phones contain deeply personal information that should be afforded strong protections by the Fourth Amendment,” said Lynch. “Courts should not allow law enforcement to have limitless authority in executing search warrants on cell phones,” she said. They should follow the approach of “numerous other courts” and require cellphone warrants “that are narrowly tailored to the crime under investigation,” she said.