D.D.C.: CSLI information doesn’t require showing PC; Smith applies

CSLI information is not protected by the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment. The government sought the information by court order and the USMJ denied it, and the government appealed to the District Judge who granted it. CLSI information is subject to the Smith v. Maryland no reasonable expectation of privacy standard. In the Matter of the Application of the United States of America for an Order Authorizing Disclosure of Historical Cell Site Information for Telephone Number [Text Redacted by the Court], 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156744 (D. D.C. October 3, 2011):

This Court agrees with the government that the text of the SCA permits the government to apply for compelled disclosure of CSLI records relating to a customer’s past use of a cellular telephone company’s phone services without meeting the probable cause requirement for a warrant. See, e.g., Oklahoma Press Publishing Co. v. Walling, 327 U.S. 186, 208, 66 S. Ct. 494, 90 L. Ed. 614 (1946) (holding that the probable cause requirement does not apply to compulsory process).

The Court of Appeals’ opinion in United States v. Maynard does not compel a contrary result. The Court in Maynard determined that law enforcement installation of a GPS tracking device on a suspect’s car that continuously registers the car’s location constitutes a “search” under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Maynard, 615 F.3d 544, 555-56, 392 U.S. App. D.C. 291 (D.C. Cir. 2010). In so holding, the Court did not address compelled disclosure under Section 2703(d) -indeed, the law enforcement officers in Maynard sought no official process sanctioning their conduct before installing the GPS device at issue. See id. at 555. Maynard thus does not bear on the relevant evidentiary standard under Section 2703(d).

In finding that Maynard applied to this case, Magistrate Judge Facciola presumably concluded that obtaining CSLI is tantamount to the sort of continuous GPS surveillance at issue in Maynard. If the analogy holds, collection of historical CSLI may constitute a “search” that requires a warrant under the Fourth Amendment, the SCA notwithstanding. Cf. In re Application of the United States, 620 F.3d at 308-09 (describing magistrate judge’s opinion comparing collection of historical CSLI to installation of a tracking device); In re United States Order, 736 F. Supp. 2d 578, 595 & n.6 (E.D.N.Y. 2010) (arguing that “[s]tatutory authority … is not sufficient if such authority purports to allow, without a showing of probable cause, a search or seizure that must be considered unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment”).

Unsealed and posted to Lexis this week.