A recent Public Policy Polling survey found that 74% of North Carolina voters would support a law to protect privacy rights by requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant or court order before tracking an individual’s cell phone.

The survey, which polled 810 North Carolina voters from June 7-10, comes after the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) released public records from more than 40 North Carolina law enforcement agencies as part of an ongoing investigation into state and local policies, practices, and procedures for tracking cell phone records. That investigation found that many law enforcement agencies across the state routinely track individual’s cell phone locations and other personal information without obtaining a warrant or court order. There is currently no statewide law or policy requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant for such actions.

“These results show that an overwhelmingly majority of North Carolina voters value privacy rights and believe law enforcement across the state should follow a uniform policy when seeking to obtain personal cell phone information,” said Sarah Preston, Policy Director for the ACLU-NC. “The information transmitted through our cell phones – from where we travel to who we communicate with – is extremely sensitive and personal, and North Carolina voters clearly want to ensure that police obtain and retain such data only when a judge agrees that they have probable cause to do so.”

The PPP poll also found that 58% of voters were more likely to support a candidate if he or she supported a law requiring police to obtain a warrant before tracking cell phones. To date, no such legislation has been introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Read the full poll results and crosstabs here.