In 2010, the government obtained four people's cell phone location records over a 67-day period in a criminal investigation in Florida, without a warrant.

The ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) policy of searching, copying and detaining travelers’ laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices at the border, even when DHS has no reason to believe a search would reveal wrongdoing. A federal judge granted the government's motion to dismiss on December 31, 2013.