Vt. is sued over phone tracking

“The attorney general’s behavior here is a real breach of trust,’’ said Allen Gilbert, executive director. “The Public Records Act specifically requires public agencies to explain the factual basis for denying a request.’’

The state hasn’t filed its response yet. But in an interview Tuesday, Attorney General William Sorrell defended law enforcement use of triangulation — technology that uses cellphone tower signals to narrow a person’s location to within a few miles — or data from cellphone records.

But he said details of it fall under Public Records Act exemptions dealing with ongoing criminal investigations, which are not releasable public records.

“We have legal requirements and prohibitions under which we have to live, and we take those seriously,’’ said Sorrell. Referring to cellphone tracking of individuals, he said: “It’s an appropriate investigative tool and I’m certain it has been used in Vermont.’’

Fearful that the information could be used the wrong way, privacy advocates nationally have zeroed in on the government’s practice of using information gathered from a cellphone or cellphone records.

Police often seek cellphone location data from phone companies, sometimes without notifying the person. One issue is whether investigators need probable cause to get permission to obtain the information.

“The location information can reveal very personal data, like where they shop, whose houses they visit, churches they attend, therapists they see,’’ said Mariko Hirose, an ACLU legal fellow in New York. “We think this information can reveal a very detailed picture of a person’s life, and it’s the type of personal information that’s designed to be protected by the Fourth Amendment.’’

In the Vermont case, the ACLU sought records — paper or electronic — regarding requests for cellphone location data made by the attorney general’s office to any court since Jan. 1, 2008.

The office denied the request, but didn’t say why.