United States District Court
Northern District of California
Case5:15-xr-90304-HRL Document30 Filed07/29/15 Page31 of 46
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Further, the Eleventh Circuit, just like the Fifth Circuit, “limit[ed] its decision to the world
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(and technology) as we knew it in 2010.” Davis, 785 F.3d at 521 (Jordan, J., concurring); see also
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id. at 502 (majority opinion) (explaining that the government sought historical CSLI “for the
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period from August 1, 2010 through October 6, 2010). Indeed, the court in Davis expressly
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declined to consider “newer technology,” such as “femtocells,” that had developed since 2010. Id.
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at 503 n.7 (majority opinion). This Court, in contrast, must consider the state of the technology as
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it exists in June 2015 as well as going forward. See Kyllo, 533 U.S. at 35-36 (rejecting “a
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mechanical interpretation of the Fourth Amendment” because courts “must take account of more
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sophisticated systems that are already in use or in development”). That technology includes
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femtocells, which the government says can be used to locate an individual within her home. See
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Hr’g Tr. at 29:22-33:25 (government discussion of femtocell technology).
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It is clear, then, that the factual record before this Court is distinct. It is not the case here
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that “the signal [to a cell tower] only happens when a user makes or receives a call.” Davis, 785
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F.3d at 498 (emphasis added). Rather, historical CSLI is also generated by continuously operating
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apps and by frequent pinging. Luna Decl. ¶ 3B. Critically, the government here does not disclaim
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its purported right to obtain without a warrant historical CSLI generated by such passive activities.
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This is true even though, as explained above, the government’s application “does not seek” CSLI
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“that might be available when the [target cell phones] are turned ‘on’ but a call is not in progress.”
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App. ¶ 3. Because the government broadly defines “call” to include any call, text message, or data
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transfer, see Hr’g Tr. at 50:22-52:5, the government’s application could very well obtain historical
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CSLI generated by “applications that continually run in the background that send and receive
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data,” Luna Decl. ¶ 3B.
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Nor is it the case here that “[u]sers are aware that cell phones do not work when they are
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outside the range of the provider company’s cell tower network.” Davis, 785 F.3d at 511
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(emphasis added). Whatever the factual record may have been before the Fifth and Eleventh
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Circuits, the record here establishes that a user’s cell phone works—and generates CSLI—when
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Case No. 15-XR-90304-HRL-1(LHK)
ORDER AFFIRMING DENIAL OF APPLICATION FOR HISTORICAL CELL SITE LOCATION
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