SCOTUS limits the law enforcement use of “geofence” warrants, saying people have “a reasonable expectation of privacy” in their cell-phone location data
Zack Whittaker Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday limited the law enforcement use of …
TechCrunch
Context & Ripple Effects
The ruling extends a line of location-privacy coverage that moved from a 2016 appeals-court decision permitting access to cellphone location data without a warrant to the Supreme Court’s 2018 requirement for warrants for extended mobile-tower records.
This case applies that privacy principle to geofence warrants, making it a consequential test of how Fourth Amendment protections translate from historical carrier records to broader location-data requests.
First-order effects
- Law-enforcement agencies face tighter constitutional limits on using geofence warrants and must account for individuals’ reasonable expectation of privacy in cell-phone location data.
- Courts reviewing these requests will have a clearer Supreme Court standard for scrutinizing location-data warrants that can encompass many people beyond a suspect.
Second-order effects
- Investigators and prosecutors will need to revise location-data request practices and rely more heavily on narrower, better-justified warrants where geofence-style searches were previously available.
- The decision is likely to generate further litigation over which forms of mobile-location collection are sufficiently similar to geofence searches to receive the same protection.
Third-order effects
- If subsequent courts apply the reasoning broadly, location data will be treated less as an ordinary third-party business record and more as sensitive evidence subject to Fourth Amendment limits.
- The ruling reinforces a legal trajectory in which digital surveillance methods are assessed by the depth of location visibility they create, not simply by whether a company holds the underlying data.
The trend: This is another step in the Supreme Court’s gradual adaptation of privacy doctrine to location data that can reconstruct people’s movements at scale.
Related: SCOTUS · US appeals court rules no warrant needed for cellphone location data, · US Supreme Court rules that law enforcement officials need a warrant t
Related Coverage
- Supreme Court sends geofence warrant case back to lower court The Hill · Sophie Brams
- BREAKING: SCOTUS rules cops' use of ‘geofence’ data requires search warrant The Post Millennial · Thomas Stevenson
- Supreme Court restricts use of geofence warrants NPR
- Supreme Court Finds 4th Amendment Protections Extend to Digital and Location Data CCIA · Craig Jones
- Supreme Court delivers ‘major win’ for tech privacy in Chatrie ruling CyberScoop · Tim Starks
- Supreme Court finds geofence warrants constitute a search under Fourth Amendment Washington Examiner · Kaelan Deese
- Supreme Court Puts Limits on Cellphone Location Data Searches New York Times
- Supreme Court rules that broad cell phone location data sweeps require warrants NBC News · Lawrence Hurley
- In Big Win for Fourth Amendment Advocates, the Supreme Court Says ‘Geofence Warrants’ Count as a ‘Search’ Reason · Damon Root
- Divided Supreme Court backs phone location privacy rights in ‘geofence’ warrant case MS NOW · Jordan Rubin
- Supreme Court throws out ‘geofence’ warrant case, sends back to lower court Straight Arrow · Mikael Thalen
- ‘Irresponsible Escapade’: Alito Rips SCOTUS Majority in Ruling Involving Big Tech Data and a Bank Robbery The Daily Signal · Fred Lucas
- Supreme Court says police need a warrant to obtain Google location data ABA Journal
- Supreme Court limits use of ‘geofence warrants’ amid cellphone data privacy concerns ABC News
- Supreme Court Rules Fourth Amendment Covers Your Location Data New Republic · Rachel Kahn
- NEW: In a major privacy win, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that authorities need to get a search warrant when requesting historical “geofence” cellphone location data. — Feds will need to show probable cause when requesting these type warrants, the court ruled, as “an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his cell-phone location information.” … @lorenzofb@infosec … · Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
- Supreme Court rules the Fourth Amendment protects your phone's location history 9to5Google · Will Sattelberg
- Supreme Court rules constitutional privacy protections apply to cellphone users location history Associated Press · Mark Sherman
- SCOTUS spurns geofence warrant used to solve 2019 robbery Courthouse News Service · Megan Butler
- US supreme court rules geofence warrants require constitutional privacy protections The Guardian · Sanya Mansoor
- Justices rule that cellphone location histories are protected by the Fourth Amendment The Record · Suzanne Smalley
- Supreme Court ruling guts government's use of geofence warrants Ars Technica · Ashley Belanger
- Chatrie v. United States Supreme Court of the United States
- Victory! Supreme Court Says Constitution Protects People's Location Data Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Supreme Court: Sweeping use of cellphone data requires warrant UPI · Jill Keppeler
- Supreme Court Says Warrant Needed for Phone Location Data Bloomberg · Justin Wise
- Supreme Court says police need a warrant to obtain Google location data Washington Post
- User location data that Google & Apple have is protected by Fourth Amendment, says SCOTUS AppleInsider
- The Supreme Court just made your phone's location data much harder for police to get Android Authority · Ryan McNeal
- People Have ‘Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy’ In Location Data, SCOTUS Says MediaPost · Wendy Davis
- The Era of Easy Phone Tracking Is Over: What the Supreme Court's New Ruling Means for Your Privacy Inc.com · Georgia Fearn
- The Supreme Court stood up for the right to privacy — but only to a point MS NOW · Amy Peikoff
- SCOTUS: Feds need a warrant to scoop up your phone's location data Mashable · Neal Broverman
- Court rules that law enforcement's use of “geofence warrant” was a “search” SCOTUSblog · Amy Howe
- Supreme Court limits geofence search warrants, bolsters privacy rights SC Media
- Supreme Court protects your cell phone location data after Google's role in a conviction Android Police · Chandra Steele
- SCOTUS says detailed cellphone location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment 9to5Mac · Marcus Mendes
- Supreme Court Rules 6-3 Geofence Warrants Search Your Data, Covering Millions of Users Tech Times · Chase Fiorini
Discussion
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@repkeithself
Rep. Keith Self
on x
GET A WARRANT.
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@aburkhartlaw
@aburkhartlaw
on x
Big decision on geofence warrants out of the Supreme Court today. SCOTUS rejects the third-party exception to the Fourth Amendment, which denies protection to records generated by or voluntarily exposed to a third-party, and finds that location data is indispensable to
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@hissgoescobra
John Jackson
on x
Thomas and Alito are just incredible at this point. Not a shred of independence or good faith left. Reading their dissents one cannot help but chuckle at the incredulousness of what they purport to believe. The Supreme Court must be reformed.
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@scotus_wire
@scotus_wire
on x
Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court. Justice Gorsuch concurred in the judgment only. Justice Alito dissents, joined in part by Thomas and Barrett. Read the ruling here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ...
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@repthomasmassie
Thomas Massie
on x
Important SCOTUS ruling. Get a damn warrant if snooping on cell phone locations!
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@repkatcammack
Congresswoman Kat Cammack
on x
Just like the Constitution isn't à la carte, it doesn't have a digital exception. No fishing expeditions. No digital dragnets. The Fourth Amendment still applies. SCOTUS got this one right. 🇺🇸💪🏻
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@austincampbell
Austin Campbell
on x
By the logic in this opinion, the BSA as it applies to modern payment systems is likely unconstitutional.
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@realshlippi
@realshlippi
on x
@scotus_wire Do @Flock_Safety cameras next. If a private company sets up automated cameras that profile everyone that goes by them via an AI that can be queried without a warrant, you don't have any privacy either, even if it should be expected.
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@scotus_wire
@scotus_wire
on x
🚨 The Supreme Court ruled that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain data through a geofence warrant, holding that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell phone location data. [image]
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Andrew Ferguson
Andrew Ferguson
on linkedin
Major privacy win in Chatrie. — Geofence queries are searches for Fourth Amendment purposes requiring a warrant. — https://lnkd.in/...
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Heidi Saas
Heidi Saas
on linkedin
👁 Privacy WIN from SCOTUS! Chatrie v US, the Court “Held: Police officers conducted a Fourth Amendment search when they acquired Chatrie's location data …
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Matt Todd
Matt Todd
on linkedin
Today in “your phone is not just a phone”: the Supreme Court decided Chatrie v. United States, an important Fourth Amendment case involving geofence warrants and Google Location History. …
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r/FlockSurveillance
r
on reddit
Supreme Court Says Constitution Protects People's Location Data