Supreme Court rules geofence warrants violate privacy rights in 6-3 decision

Summary

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell-phone location information, limiting law enforcement's use of "geofence" warrants. These warrants allow police to demand location data from tech companies for all devices within a geographic area during a specific time period. The ruling is a significant victory for privacy advocates who argued the practice was unconstitutional. The court's decision establishes that people retain privacy rights over the location history collected by their phones and the services running on them, placing new restrictions on a surveillance technique that had become increasingly common in criminal investigations.

Source

bskySupreme Court rules geofence warrants violate privacy rights in 6-3 decisiontechcrunch.com