In 2018 the Supreme Court looked at what a phone's tower records reveal and wrote the clearest description of carrier surveillance that exists. Chief Justice Roberts, for the majority:
"Cell phones continuously scan their environment looking for the best signal, which generally comes from the closest cell site."
"Much like GPS tracking of a vehicle, cell phone location information is detailed, encyclopedic, and effortlessly compiled."
"While individuals regularly leave their vehicles, they compulsively carry cell phones with them all the time."
"when the Government tracks the location of a cell phone it achieves near perfect surveillance, as if it had attached an ankle monitor"
"With access to CSLI, the Government can now travel back in time to retrace a person’s whereabouts"
"Unlike the nosy neighbor who keeps an eye on comings and goings, they are ever alert, and their memory is nearly infallible."
That record exists because the network needs it to route your calls. Which name sits on it is the only part you get to choose.
Carpenter v. United States, 2018
PikaSim
npub1vt…fnulm
2026-10-04 21:25:15 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1vtwqkw59q7heudskvx9g92d8wrvc0lj8a2qe34ul6x7hc3vpxy4qzfnulmPublished at
2026-10-04 21:25:15 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "ead1df3cf9c5302e2bdcf2b57365fd0e15264b7da8640982fdc5650f03de0bd2",
"pubkey": "62dc0b3a8507af9e3616618a82a9a770d987fe47ea8198d79fd1bd7c4581312a",
"created_at": 1791149115,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "In 2018 the Supreme Court looked at what a phone's tower records reveal and wrote the clearest description of carrier surveillance that exists. Chief Justice Roberts, for the majority:\n\n\"Cell phones continuously scan their environment looking for the best signal, which generally comes from the closest cell site.\"\n\n\"Much like GPS tracking of a vehicle, cell phone location information is detailed, encyclopedic, and effortlessly compiled.\"\n\n\"While individuals regularly leave their vehicles, they compulsively carry cell phones with them all the time.\"\n\n\"when the Government tracks the location of a cell phone it achieves near perfect surveillance, as if it had attached an ankle monitor\"\n\n\"With access to CSLI, the Government can now travel back in time to retrace a person’s whereabouts\"\n\n\"Unlike the nosy neighbor who keeps an eye on comings and goings, they are ever alert, and their memory is nearly infallible.\"\n\nThat record exists because the network needs it to route your calls. Which name sits on it is the only part you get to choose.\n\nCarpenter v. United States, 2018",
"sig": "629ec38aace8717dc2d1aa51064ba9cefee972d6a881bc402b8f0431c7ef56022472bbfe5e3952ab543e7ea062314a661651fc2f7f57813b3ea57a5c617ddf8a"
}