Stored Communications Act: A Supreme Court Case Ruling

Quinn: Quinn & Cantara on PYX 106. 1800LAW1010, 1800law1010.com. Cassandra Kazukenus?

Cantara: Kazukenus.

Quinn: Kazukenus. I get that almost right. Almost. I apologize.

Cassandra: I can barely say it.

Quinn: For Martin, Harding & Mazzotti on the phone. This is nice, an exchange here. You get kind of sick of those other guys, actually. It’s nice to talk to you, Cassandra

Cassandra: Thanks.

Cantara: So we wanted to talk about the Supreme Court ruling that went down on Friday and what it means to, like, the regular guy, but the Supreme Court tells that the government must get a warrant to get into your cell phone.

Quinn: Right. Based on a bank robbery thing that they’ve been prosecuting in Michigan, which is, I imagine, that’s why it’s federal. But go ahead, Cantara.

Cantara: What was the issue, Cassandra?

Cassandra: So, essentially, what happened is they used the Stored Communications Act. It’s the statute that allows you to get any information that you give to third parties, like your cell phone carrier, without getting a warrant. The standard’s different. It’s not as heavy of a burden. And they used 127 days of his location tracking to put him near the robbery.

Quinn: I mean, I…

Cantara: So what does that mean for me? I mean, can they follow my every move, you know, if they need to, if I…if something comes up suspicious from months back?

Cassandra: Well, and that’s what this decision’s about is as technology changes, we need to look at what the government’s reach is in these scenarios. So basically, they kinda did a balancing test, it seems to me, when they said, “Look, this technology is changing so much. It’s easy to get all this physical location information. We need to make the search and seizure of…applicable in this situation.”

Quinn: But, you know, but if Cantara didn’t rob a bank… That’s the concern. Like if Cantara was just being Cantara, and for some reason, you know, maybe he’s a registered Democrat or something and Trump wants to, you know, get in his system, do they still have to…

Cassandra: Right. And so for the physical…

Quinn: Before, they didn’t have to get the warrant. Now, they gotta get it. What…

Cassandra: For more than seven days of data, it looks like.

Quinn: Okay.

Cassandra: It’s very specific. The Court goes out of its way to say, “This is a limited ruling.” You know, a part of me thinks, “They don’t know where they’re going with this. They’re trying to figure it out on a piece by piece, case by case situation.”

Cantara: I feel like the Supreme Court has given us a lot of that in these recent rulings.

Quinn: Yeah. Just a couple weeks ago…

Cantara: It’s like, make a law. You know, what about this?

Quinn: …you know, the cake ruling.

Cantara: What about my insurance company believes that I am the reason I have diabetes? Can they get into my Fitbit and see I didn’t work out?

Quinn: That’s a great question.

Cassandra: Isn’t that what everybody’s Fitbit shows, they didn’t work out?

Quinn: Right. Right. Hey, I burned almost 4000 calories just sitting down every day, and my Fitbit shows that.

Cantara: That’s incredible.

Quinn: I know. I know.

Cantara: You’re an amazing sitter.

Quinn: Well, it takes a lot to operate this machine.

Cantara: All right. So this is specific. So I’m not gonna worry about this then. Should I?

Cassandra: Basically what it says is you have a reasonable expectation of privacy for the movement of your body.

Cantara: Yeah.

Quinn: It’s almost like if I didn’t, I’d be one of the chips in my dog, you know. That…

Cantara: Exactly. They see the technology going to the point of basically being the same as having an ankle monitor. You know, you pick up your keys in the morning and you pick up your wallet. You pick up your cell phone. Twenty years ago, 30 years ago, the cell phone wasn’t part of that normal movement of your day.

Cantara: All right. Well, we appreciate the information. It’s Cassandra Kazu…

Quinn: Kenus. I’m nailing that. Kazukenus.

Cantara: Thank you, Cassandra…

Cassandra: Oh, you’re crushing it.

Cantara: …over there at Martin, Harding & Mazzotti. Where’s Paul at today? Do we know?

Cassandra: You know, I don’t know.

Cantara: And where’s Chas? Did Chas actually get locked up?

Cassandra: He didn’t. Well, as far as I know, he’s flying back from Florida. I’m assuming Homeland Security did not take him.

Quinn: Oh, he went to the Disney, remember? He went to…

Cantara: He had to do the Disney?

Quinn: He didn’t go to the Disney?

Cassandra: He had a wedding.

Cantara: Oh, okay.

Quinn: Oh, okay. All right.

Cassandra: He was kid-free.

Cantara: Oh, look out. No wonder he’s not here.

Cassandra: He may not be back ever.

Cantara: Thanks…

Quinn: Well, listen, Cassandra…

Cantara: Yeah. You come on anytime, Cassandra. Thank you.

Cassandra: Thank you.