"The third-party doctrine states that if you gave away a piece of information freely, the police can get it from whomever you gave it to ... without a warrant." That's not right!

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COMMENTS: 
*  the court screwed this up.  location data requires a warrant according to the patriot act, and the last in carnation of that moved storage of the data from the NSA to private companies supposedly to protect our privacy and have a real court, not FISA issue warrants for the government to obtain it.  now this tool of a judge said nah, they can have it all without a warrent
*  This is crazy that Police have the authority to get this info from your phone provider. There has to be something regarding privacy a Good lawyer can dig up to sue the Provider for releasing your info. Has to be.
    *  The 4th amendment has been getting chipped away at for years, this is just the next step in that evolution.
*  There should be a quick button on phones for temporarily enabling location services. Yes, I want them when I use google maps and I want to know where to find somewhere I haven't been before. Otherwise, off. Completely off for all apps until I say turn on. Perhaps even specify a time limit when they are turned on.
*  That's why I reverted back to a flip phone. I know they can probably figure out how to spy on me with that but it's likely they have a tougher time with it. Also get a pre paid account and don't put your real name on the account
   *   actually they don't even need your provider, they use a stingray which mimics a cell phone tower thereby making your phone connect to it. once this is done they have total access to your cell phone. and should you be arrested their mode of tracking/garnering information will never mention the stingray (which is illegal to use without a warrant, technically) all they have to do is drive around and your cell phones within their area are all affected. it also (i believe but don't hold me to it i still have some checking into this aspect) uses 2G making any encryption easier to decode.so nobody is safe anymore, whether you're a criminal or just some poor slob trying to do the 9 to 5 they are listening.
*  More important is why do the phone companies keep this information in the first place? If I were the head of a cell phone company and wanted to sell a unique service or product then I would not keep the information and advertise this fact. I expect that I would see a good increase in my market share.
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Courts Just Said Turning Location Services On Is Like Telling Police They Can Search You
By Mic, June 1, 2016

The U.S. Constitution gives you a solid defense against police who would want to put a tracker on you and follow your location without a warrant. Now, they can just use the little tracker you bought yourself and already carry everywhere: your cell phone.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, put out a ruling with sweeping implications: Police can use months of cell phone location data obtained without a warrant simply by going to your service provider.

The recent history of Fourth Amendment law — most importantly the infamous 2012 Antoine Jones case — establishes that police officers cannot, say, put a GPS device on your car or body to follow your movements over an extended period of time.

But a little caveat called the "third-party doctrine," upheld by Tuesday's ruling, means they never have to.

Third-party doctrine: The third-party doctrine states that if you gave away a piece of information freely, the police can get it from whomever you gave it to — whether that's a bank, a business, a utility company or email server — without a warrant.

For the past couple of years, privacy hawks fought in courts so that the unprecedented treasure trove of data collected by your phone was safe.

"Even if I turn off my GPS, my apps don't know where I am, but my phone company still knows," Nathan Freed Wessler, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, said, as previously reported by Mic. "By just walking around, you're not necessarily consenting to a phone company knowing [your location] and telling the police."

The third-party doctrine was meant to cover information you knowingly provided yourself. As the minority opinion from Circuit Judge James A. Wynn points out, our phones transmit data about our location automatically and constantly. 

"By just walking around, you're not necessarily consenting to a phone company knowing [your location] and telling the police."

Basic apps like Maps and Uber simply won't work without location services, and many people don't realize all that information is up for grabs without a warrant.

"Today, the majority saddles us with a rule that does not distinguish between information an individual himself conveys and information that computerized devices automatically record, generate, and transmit," Wynn wrote.
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