Washington, May 5 (RHC)-- A key Barack Obama administration official has asked the U.S. Congress to authorize increased government access to the cellphone records of U.S. citizens.

Speaking at a conference in Washington, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein urged lawmakers to pass a law that would make it easier for officials to obtain cellphone data in the early stages of investigations.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that warrants are needed to place GPS tracking devices on a suspect’s vehicle, raising questions about whether court permission is needed for other forms of mobile spying.

In related news, Democratic Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts has asked the nation’s largest cellphone carriers to provide information on how they have aided police surveillance.  In a letter this week to eight companies, Markey, the co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, said he is "deeply concerned" that routine police tracking of cellphone calls "may violate the privacy rights of Americans."

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