The US government late this week made a concession on constitutional law in a fraud case that could set a precedent protecting access to cellphones. In an affidavit (PDF), the FBI was willing to say that the use of a stingray, or fake cellular tower used to intercept and relay data from phones, represented a legal Fourth Amendment search and seizure in investigating identity theft allegations against the suspect, David Rigmaiden. Officials decided to use a court order as proof on legal grounds to avoid having to abide by a request from Rigmaiden to learn details of
