Supreme Court Rules That Accessing Google Location History Is a Fourth Amendment Search

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Chatrie v. United States that law enforcement's acquisition of Google's Location History data constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, extending privacy protections to digital location information held by third parties. The National Law Review reported that the decision builds on the Court's earlier Carpenter v. United States ruling, which recognized Fourth Amendment protection for historical cell site location data. Marketplace.org also covered the ruling, noting its significance for online privacy rights.

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The National Law ReviewSupreme Court's Chatrie Decision Extends Fourth Amendment Protection to Location Data, Raising Stakes for Digital Privacy and Data Governancemarketplace.orgSupreme Court rules digital data protected by Fourth Amendment in Chatrie v. United States

"The US Supreme Court's (the Court) recent decision in Chatrie v. United States marks another significant development in the Court's Fourth Amendment jurisprudence governing data privacy."

This reasoning reinforces the principle that people retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in comprehensive location data even when shared with a third party like Google, according to The National Law Review.

"The Court held, by a 6-3 vote, that law enforcement's acquisition of Google's 'Location History' data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search."

The practical effect is that police will generally need a warrant based on probable cause to obtain such data, a shift from past practices where companies often provided it without a court order.

Marketplace.org reported that law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explained the decision's importance for digital privacy rights. This ruling could force law enforcement agencies to change their investigative procedures and may encourage tech companies to update their data retention policies.

As The National Law Review observed, the decision raises the stakes for digital privacy and data governance, potentially setting a precedent for how other types of digital data held by third parties are treated under the Fourth Amendment.