United States v. Councilman (2007)

United States v. Councilman (2007) was a Supreme Court case about government surveillance and privacy. Anthony Councilman was convicted after government agents used phone records obtained without a warrant to track his calls. The Court ruled that accessing these call records from phone companies did not violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches, because individuals do not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the records they voluntarily share with phone providers. The decision clarified that such business records are not protected by privacy rights and can be accessed by authorities without a warrant.