Supreme Court Examines Constitutionality of Police Accessing Cellphone Location Data

The Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in a case that could change how law enforcement uses cell phone location data to investigate crimes in the digital age.

At the center of Chatrie v. United States is whether law enforcement’s use of “geofence warrants” violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches.

It marks the first major Fourth Amendment case the Court has taken since 2018.

Geofence warrants are a relatively new investigative tool that allows police to obtain location data from tech companies such as Apple and Google to identify all devices within a specific area and timeframe. Unlike traditional warrants that begin with a suspect, these warrants operate in reverse, sweeping up data on anyone in the area and allowing investigators to narrow the field from there.