Supreme Court rules police need warrants for geofence location data, gutting a key surveillance tool

Ars Technica—The Supreme Court ruled that detailed cell phone location data gathered through geofence warrants — which require tech companies like Google to identify every device present in a defined area — is protected by the Fourth Amendment and requires a judicial warrant. The ruling guts one of law enforcement's most widely used digital surveillance techniques, which agencies had deployed without warrants by drawing virtual fences around crime scenes and demanding device-level data. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion. The decision was celebrated by privacy advocates as one of the most significant digital rights rulings in years.

• Ars Technica — Ruling guts government's ability to use geofence warrants as a surveillance tool
• Newsmax — Supreme Court Expands 2nd Amendment Rights, Eyes More Gun Cases
• The Conversation — Police had used geofence warrants to draw virtual fences and compel Google to identify every device present
• NBC News — Politics — Supreme Court rules police need a warrant for broad cell phone location data sweeps
• The New Republic — Supreme Court rules Fourth Amendment protects cell phone location data from warrantless government searches
• Slate — Justice Elena Kagan authored the landmark Fourth Amendment ruling
• Hacker News — Supreme Court rules detailed cellphone location data requires Fourth Amendment protections
• 9to5Mac — Supreme Court rules detailed cellphone location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment
• TechCrunch — Ruling called a 'major privacy win' by tech journalists
• PBS NewsHour — News Wrap: Supreme Court rules constitutional protections apply to location data
• Washington Post — Court ruled police need a warrant to obtain Google location data