As location-based services become ubiquitous, so will government demands for location information as part of criminal and intelligence investigations. Indeed, real-time location tracking of cell phones by the government, and subpoenas for cell phone records indicating location, are already routine investigative techniques. What are a company's rights and obligations when it comes to assisting in government surveillance or disclosing location data? How does the law regulate the handling of such data? What are the latest legal cases dealing with this cutting edge privacy issue?

EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston, who has been fighting the government's attempts to track cell phones in real-time without a search warrant, discusses these issues, laying out the legal landscape surrounding location surveillance by the government while suggesting certain service architectures that could reduce the chances of the government targeting a company for surveillance assistance.