Washington Injury Law Blog

On September 20, 2007 Tanya Rider, a Maple Valley woman, crashed her small Honda SUV into a ravine off the Maple Valley Highway near Renton, Washington. Her SUV plunged 12 feet down a brush covered ravine, concealing her vehicle from passing vehicles and searchers.  She was trapped in her vehicle for 8 days. Her husband, Tom Rider, reported her missing almost immediately but police department policy would not allow for a search to begin until days later. It wasn’t until police finally obtain a court order to get her cell phone records a week later that revealed where she last made cell phone calls.  This allowed police to also track her cell phone signal and find her still buckled into her crashed SUV.

In the last few months King County Police Department has been under fire for failing to do more sooner.  In todays Seattle Post Intelligence it was reported that Mr. Rider supports having a box on cell phone bills that a person could check to share their records with police without a warrant.  Those who do not want to share the information could check a box to decline. My first reaction was that it sounds like a good idea, but on second thought is it? 

I cannot imagine the horror of being trapped in a car for 8 days after a car crash. My wife would want the police to do everything they could to find me, just like Tom Rider did for his wife. However, the lawyer in me is screaming that releasing phone records to the police without a warrant by checking a box on my cell bill is dangerous. If police could access my cell records without a warrant how do I know they will only do so when I’ve legitimately gone missing or crashed my car?

The potential for abuse it seems is great and many people may not fully understand the scope of such a release when they check that box on a cell bill. For example, I can imagine a suspicious spouse filing a missing persons report so she can track down and determine whether her husband is cheating on her. Additionally, I could no longer trust that my cell phone records are private thus further eroding my sense of privacy. Then again, knowing if I somehow was lost and my life depended on being found that my cell could one day save my life is comforting.

Technology is fascinating and frightening at the same time. Would I could check a box on my cell bill so police in case of emergency would have easier access to my records? Yes, probably. Because I would rather spare my family the heartache than attempt to protect my rapidly decreasing expectation of privacy. Others would likely disagree with me and argue that Big Brother is within sight with such a suggestion. 

Car accidents can cause serious injuries and even death, so any measure that can help people avoid these tragedies is definitely worth exploring. That being said, I think checking a box on a cell bill to give the police warrantless access to my cell records is not the best way to solve this problem. The cellphone companies are discussing the issue with police departments statewide, and hopefully they can come up with a better way to solve this important issue.