Industry - Policy Change
Executive Summary
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that law enforcement must obtain a warrant before using geofence warrants, which collect cellphone location data from all users in a broad area, not just suspects. The Court found that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their location data, and accessing it constitutes a Fourth Amendment search requiring probable cause. The decision limits a surveillance practice that previously allowed police to gather tracking information on potentially ...
What Happened
On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Chatrie v. United States that law enforcement must obtain a warrant based on probable cause before using geofence warrants to collect cellphone location data. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their location records, and that accessing this data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search requiring judicial oversight. The Court rejected the government's argument that geofence warrants did not amount to a search at all, finding that location data resembles other private materials like emails and documents.
Who Is Affected
This ruling affects all cellphone users in the United States whose location data could be swept up in geofence searches conducted by law enforcement agencies. Previously, police could request location information from tech companies like Google for everyone within a broad geographic area during a specified time window, potentially capturing data from millions of people with no connection to any crime. The decision now requires authorities to have probable cause and obtain a narrowly tailored warrant before examining such cellphone data.
Why It Matters
The decision establishes that modern location tracking data receives Fourth Amendment protection, rejecting the application of the third-party doctrine to this type of information. By requiring probable cause warrants, the Court limits a surveillance practice that allowed dragnet collection of private movement data from innocent people who happened to be in an area where a crime occurred. This sets a precedent that new surveillance technologies must comply with constitutional protections rather than exploiting legal loopholes, addressing concerns about mass surveillance capabilities that did not exist when Fourth Amendment jurisprudence was originally developed.
What You Should Do
Understand that your cellphone location data now has stronger legal protection from warrantless government access, though law enforcement can still obtain it with proper judicial authorization. Review your device's location tracking settings and consider whether you want to limit which apps have access to your location data, as this can reduce the overall collection of your movement information by tech companies. If you are contacted by law enforcement regarding location data, you have the right to ask whether they obtained a warrant based on probable cause before accessing records about your movements.
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