Despite conspiracy television shows always depicting law enforcement and government agencies as able to precisely locate mobile phones, it seems the general populace is still somewhat lethargic about adapting their crimes. Nonetheless, the fact that mobile providers, by nature of the technology, had historical location information was police no longer require a warrant to obtain 200 days worth of the data (non-content).

In another privacy twist, imagine that hard drives are seized (in accordance with the law) by law enforcement. Years later, an issue comes up and that data is looked at again which reveals a different crime was committed. The courts have just ruled in favor of this precedent which raises significant questions about the retention timelines for these drive images. The parallels to non-digital methods are that the original probable cause can always reveal the conduct of additional, previously unknown crimes.