re: #249 kirkspencer

Right bottom line, wrong method.

I have phone I know belongs to dead person. I go to judge and get a warrant. I use the warrant to get the phone records from the carrier for the name and billing address on the account. I also see if there are other accounts (and the numbers) for the same name and billing address. Now it’s “we have an unidentified person who was carrying this phone. Can you come and identify him, please?”

I don’t think a reverse lookup of a phone number requires a search warrant by a court in the course of a criminal investigation, but accessing the phone data to get that info might. Detailed records of who was called and from when and what location obviously would, however.