Case5:15-xr-90304-HRL Document30 Filed07/29/15 Page9 of 46
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The policy also contains information concerning the accuracy of the “wireless location
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information” that AT&T collects and explains that AT&T “can locate your device based on the
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cell tower that’s serving you” up to 1,000 meters in urban areas and 10,000 meters in rural areas.
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Id. Neither policy indicates how much location data Verizon or AT&T collects, nor does either
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policy estimate how long each provider will retain that information.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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D. Procedural History
The government has submitted, under seal, an application for an order pursuant to 18
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U.S.C. §§ 3122 and 3123 and 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) seeking CSLI associated with
target cell
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phones. See ECF No. 2 at 1. The application sought historical CSLI for sixty days back from the
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date of the order, as well as prospective CSLI for sixty days going forward. See id. at 2. In
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support of its application to Judge Lloyd, the government submitted a letter brief on March 17,
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2015. ECF No. 1.
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On April 9, 2015, Judge Lloyd issued a public order denying the government’s application.
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ECF No. 2. In that order, Judge Lloyd stated that he found “very persuasive” U.S. District Judge
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Susan Illston’s analysis in United States v. Cooper, No. 13-CR-00693-SI-1, 2015 WL 881578, at
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*8 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 2, 2015), which held that the Fourth Amendment requires the government to
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secure a warrant supported by probable cause before obtaining sixty days’ worth of historical
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CSLI. ECF No. 2 at 5. “[U]ntil binding authority says otherwise,” Judge Lloyd concluded, “in
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order to get cell site information, prospective or historical, the government must obtain a search
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warrant under Rule 41 on a showing of probable cause.” Id.
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On April 30, 2015, the government appealed Judge Lloyd’s order to the undersigned.
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Gov’t Br. at 9. The government elected to appeal Judge Lloyd’s denial of the application with
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respect to historical CSLI only. See id. at 1 (“The government appeals Judge Lloyd’s Order to this
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Court to the extent Judge Lloyd denied the government historical cell site information.”); id. at 3
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n.1 (“As noted, however, the government is not appealing Judge Lloyd’s order to the extent it
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denied the government prospective cell site information.”). On May 7, 2015, the government filed
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Case No. 15-XR-90304-HRL-1(LHK)
ORDER AFFIRMING DENIAL OF APPLICATION FOR HISTORICAL CELL SITE LOCATION
INFORMATION
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