The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently found that in order for cell tower warrants to be supported by probable cause and satisfy Fourth Amendment concerns, they must include protocols limiting the government’s collection of information from individuals not involved in the underlying criminal activity. In In re Application for Tower Dump Data for a Sex Trafficking Investigation, No. 23 M 87, 2023 WL 1779775 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 6, 2023), the court only approved a “tower dump” warrant, commonly named as such for its tendency to sweep broadly and collect innocent third parties’ information, after the government provided restrictions on its search.…

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