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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

A federal judge has rejected evidence obtained through the warrantless use of Stingray [theregister.co.uk] IMSI catcher technology by the DEA:

A federal judge in New York State has pushed back against Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) use of Stingray data, saying the data it collected isn't admissible. Like a Maryland state judge, who ruled in 2015 [theregister.co.uk] that IMSI-catcher data needed warrants, US District Court judge William Pauley III has decided that technology can't be used to subvert America's Fourth Amendment.

His judgement, here [documentcloud.org], draws parallels with other cases that have treated privacy-invasive technologies as "unreasonable search". Past rulings on such matters have kiboshed heat detection through walls, for example, in the 15-year-old Kyllo [theregister.co.uk] case that began in 1992. "Absent a search warrant, the Government may not turn a citizen's cell phone into a tracking device," the judgement notes – adding adding that the Department of Justice seems to agree, since its internal policies now tell government agents to get a warrant before using such devices.

Also at Ars Technica [arstechnica.com], Reuters [reuters.com], and NYT [nytimes.com].

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