Where Is Online Privacy Going?

Abstract

Digital devices allow for the collection of large amounts of user data. This poses crucial questions regarding online privacy and the rights of associated thereto. For example, the data generated by cell phones allows the accurate location of the device. This information, which is normally stored by wireless carriers, can have great impact on criminal investigations as it can help locate people under investigation with accuracy. In that connection, last year the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Carpenter, a leading case on geolocation through cell phones and privacy. The Supreme Court finally established that the standard required to collect geolocation data is that of a warrant. Interestingly, the Carpenter ruling was mirrored and cited by an Argentine court shortly after it was issued, and it is also being replicated throughout multiple jurisdictions as privacy, as we know it, might be changing substantially. privacy, geolocation, cellphone, cell-site, mobile devices