- The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that geofence warrants, which collect smartphone location data, require Fourth Amendment privacy protections, as individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such records.
- Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion, stating that accessing location data from third-party tech companies constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, even if data is collected only for a limited time or from public areas.
- The case, Chatrie v US, involved a bank robber tracked via Google's location history, with lawyers arguing the warrant was overly broad and violated constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure.
- The court rejected government arguments that short-term location data access does not qualify as a Fourth Amendment search, noting that voluntary use of smartphone services does not equate to consent for government surveillance.
- Privacy advocates and justices expressed concerns that geofence warrants can reveal sensitive personal associations and be overly broad, potentially monitoring places like protests, clinics, or religious gatherings without proper cause.
- While affirming the search occurred, the court left it to lower courts to determine if it was reasonable, with law enforcement defending the warrants as necessary for investigations when other leads are exhausted.
- The ruling builds on a 2018 precedent requiring warrants for cellphone location tracking, marking a significant step in applying traditional privacy rights to digital-era challenges.