The EFF (short for Electronic Frontier Foundation) and the ACLU (short for American Civil Liberties Union) have initiated legal action against the United States Government. The above mentioned organizations decided to sue the federal government after the Freedom of Information request that was filed last year went unanswered and after numerous reports have emerged in the media about law enforcement agents that can track you down through your mobile carrier without having to get a court's permission to do so.

ECLU and EFF: "The information now in the public domain suggests that [the DOJ] may be engaging in unauthorized and potentially unconstitutional tracking of individuals through their mobile phones. Information pertaining to the DOJ's procedures for obtaining real-time tracking information is vital to the public's understanding of the privacy risks of carrying a mobile phone and of, more generally, the government's expansive view of its surveillance powers."

Catherine Crump, lead attorney with ACLU informs us about just how dangerous this situation can get. Just because you want access to mobile phone technology and you sign up with a carrier, doesn't mean that you can be tracked and spied upon at any time by the US Government.

The Department of Justice defends itself by stating that no honest, law abiding US citizen will be tracked using this kind of technology. Only law breakers and criminals are targeted and only after a court of law has consented it. In child abduction cases for example it is necessary to cooperate with the mobile carrier and track down that criminal.

The EFF and ACLU are not convinced that the US Government has the best intentions in mind. There are clues that suggest this form of tracking has been used before; consequently the plaintiffs would like access to past files in order to determine if the Government is guilty of any shady doings, especially since locating a person through mobile triangulation is a fairly simple process.

Catherine Crump: "This is a critical opportunity to shed much-needed light on possibly unconstitutional government surveillance techniques".