The US Supreme Court will soon address the legality of allowing the police to monitor the movements of the US mobile phone users without a warrant.

The issue in the case before the Supreme Court in US v. Jones is whether the police officers can track suspects’ car via a GPS device without first obtaining a warrant.  In that case, the suspect was surveilled for some 28 days by the law enforcement GPS device planted without a warrant.  The question before the Court there is whether the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy as his car was at all times in a public place.  The government argued that the GPS device was tantamount to tailing him and no different.   However placing a device on a car without a warrant without attestation in form of affidavit or probable cause might just cross the line there.   Arguably once you install a device on a suspects’ car, you have gone beyond just tailing him in a public place.

During the recent holiday shopping weekend, few shopping center admitted tracking customer’s cell phone signals in order to determine their shopping patterns and which store they frequented.

Recently the LAPD has considered using aerial drones to survey suspected properties for illicit use or manufacturing of drugs or other criminal activity.

There is balancing act that will arguably continue in days and months to come between the pervasive use of technology and its infringement on your privacy rights.  Unquestionably though the law is recognizing this dilemma and is struggling to define a fine line.  A line that is ever leaning toward ebbing away from our traditional core expectations of privacy rights.