Supreme Court Supports Privacy Protections for Cellphone Location Data
The 6-3 ruling slaps down law enforcement's wide-ranging "geofencing warrants" that pull phone data of anyone in an area.
4 min read
The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that law enforcement agencies must obtain a valid warrant before conducting geofence searches, reaffirming that probable cause is required to subpoena cellphone location data.
The decision in Chatrie v. United States held that users' digital, on-device location data is private and that the Constitution places limits on the government's ability to access tracking data from tech companies. In the 6-3 ruling (PDF) written by Justice Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court found "an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cellphone's location" and that geofencing warrants "intrude on that constitutionally protected interest."
Privacy experts celebrated the decision. Alan Butler, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in a statement after the ruling: "EPIC applauds the...
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