Federal officials are routinely demanding courts to oblige cell phones companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can identify the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.

In some cases, however, courts are granting the request without having real reason to believe that somewhere out there a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime, despite Justice Department guidelines imposing that investigators should meet that standard, the Washington Post reported.

"Law enforcement has absolutely no interest in tracking the locations of law-abiding citizens. What we're doing is going through the courts to lawfully obtain data that will help us locate criminal suspects, sometimes in cases where lives are literally hanging in the balance, such as a child abduction case or a serial murderer on the loose,” says a statement issued by the Justice Department on Friday.

Most of the new cell phones are already having incorporated special devices that can track their location. With the touch of a button, cell phone users can know where their friends or family are located. The companies are hoping to recoup investments they have made to meet a federal mandate to provide enhanced 911, or E-911, location tracking.

Another special device provided by Verizon’s Chaperone service offers parents the possibility to know where their children are located at any time. If their children are walking to an unknown area, they receive an automatic text message.

Sprint Nextel can send an alert through its “loopt” service letting you know when a friend is approaching, "putting an end to missed connections in the mall, at the movies, or around town."

"Most people don't realize it, but they're carrying a tracking device in their pocket. Cell phones can reveal very precise information about your location, and yet legal protections are very much up in the air," said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group, Electronic Frontier Foundation.