Supreme Court Curbs Geofence Warrants

The Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement’s use of geofence warrants to obtain cellphone location data constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, requiring a warrant.

The 6-3 decision is a major privacy win but stops short of declaring the tactic unconstitutional.

The case centred on a bank robbery investigation in which prosecutors obtained location data from Google.

The ruling restricts police from accessing vast location databases without judicial oversight.