Judge rules: Police need a warrant to track your phone

Judge shuts down warrantless Stingray use.

A federal judge has ordered that police cannot track cell phones without a warrant. The ruling may impact thousands of cases.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Police may not track phones without a warrant. This is the latest ruling in a narcotics case in a Manhattan federal court. The ruling threatens thousands of other cases where police have tracked phones without warrants.

One of the most sophisticated tools in the police arsenal is the Stingray device. Stingray, which can also go by "Hailstorm" or "TriggerFish," can work as a cell phone tower. It sends a signal to a suspect's phone, which replies with a ping. These pings can tell police where the phone is. And where the phone is, there is usually a suspect.

The technology allows police to track a suspect's location and to find where they live.

In the Manhattan case, the DEA used Stingray to locate the apartment of a narcotics suspect. When the suspect was away, police entered the apartment and searched it. They discovered evidence of drug trafficking and took the suspect into custody.

But police never had a warrant to track the suspect's location using Stingray. Judge William Pauley ruled that police violated the defendant's rights.

The problem is that anyone with a cellphone can be tracked by authorities without any judicial oversight.

The ruling has powerful implications. At least 13 federal agencies and police departments across the country use this technology. Police have used the technology in everything from drug cases to petty theft.

Thousands of cases across the country could be challenged in the wake of this ruling.

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