Vermont: ACLU concerned over cell phone tracking of people in criminal and civil cases.

A Vermont judge heard arguments but didn’t rule yesterday on a lawsuit aimed at forcing the state to reveal whether and how its criminal investigators use cellphone tracking technology to keep tabs on people.

The ACLU of Vermont sued the state in March after filing public records requests that sought information on the state attorney general’s use of data from cellphone service providers to pinpoint the locations of people.

The requests, which spanned four days last January, had to do with an Orleans County case or cases, but the parties to them weren’t named in the document, nor was it clear whether they were criminal or civil.

“So we know something we didn’t know six months ago when we filed this case, and that is that yes, the attorney general is asking for information from cell companies about data that shows where any of us is at any one time if we had our cellphones on,’’ said Allen Gilbert, executive director of the ACLU’s Vermont chapter.

“The next question, probably, is how widespread a practice is this? We only asked the AG. We only asked for a limited amount of time. We could ask the same question of police agencies or state’s attorneys around the state,’’ Gilbert said.


Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2010/10/19/vt_judge_urged_to_shed_light_on_use_of_cellphone_tracking_data/