Its very likely that if you use a smartphone you have at some point of time volunteered to give away your geo location, which law enforcement agencies can access without requiring a warrant.

Isn’t it obvious to think that the police will necessary have to have a warrant to know your phone’s location? Not really said the United States’ Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In what could be considered a landmark ruling, a judge has declared that if the police were to ask your cellphone company for your smartphone’s location it does not represent a search according to the U.S constitution’s Fourth Amendments and thus, no warrant is required.

As per the judges who voted for this ruling, volunteering your smartphone’s geographical coordinates necessarily means that you have given up your “reasonable expectation of privacy”.

The current ruling is in line with other precedents and essentially ends a split between courts on this topic. However, it is very likely that the matter could go on appeal to the Supreme Court.

The point of contention here is that it is almost impossible to avoid giving away your geographic locations at some point of time. Even the simple act of making a call from your smartphone will give away your position to your carrier. Many other common tasks, such as social checks in, navigational aids demand access to your location.

So until there is a ruling that states otherwise, don’t assume that the police will have to jump through hoops to find out where you have been and where you currently are located.