Most Geofence Warrants Are Unconstitutional: Appeals Court

Warrants that often result in Google searching its voluminous user database are unconstitutional, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Aug. 12. The geofence warrants violate the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said. “We hold that geofence warrants are modern-day general warrants and are unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment,” U.S. Circuit Judge Judge Carolyn Dineen King wrote in the 39-page decision. The amendment protects people against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” Three people who robbed a U.S. Postal Service driver in 2018 sued because investigators turned to geofence warrants when they could not identify any suspects. The people said they have a reasonable expectation of privacy when it concerns their digital data....