One important topic that comes up frequently in the field of law and criminal justice is whether or not a search warrant is required to request a suspect’s cell phone pings from their service provider. Thankfully, the answer is no, you do not need a search warrant to request this information. This is because a person who chooses to voluntarily use a cell phone essentially forfeits their expectation of privacy with respect to data that is transferred to the service provider. In other words, since the service provider has access to certain pieces of information by virtue of providing the service, there is no need for a search warrant to access that information. This applies specifically to pings, which are used to locate a cell phone’s position via signals sent to nearby cellular towers. So, if you’re involved in a legal case or other investigation and need to obtain a suspect’s cell phone pings, rest assured that you can do so without requiring a search warrant.