When and how can police use cell phone location data to find a criminal suspect? And how much data about people who happen to be in the area can law enforcement scoop up at the same time?
Those questions are at the heart of a case before the Supreme Court this week. Tech expert Omar Gallaga wrote for CNET about the oral arguments before justices.
Highlights from this segment:
– Police in Richmond, VA served a geofence warrant on Google, requesting location data for phones in the area of a bank robbery, which resulted in the loss of nearly $200,000.
– By analyzing the data, police narrowed down the list of possible suspects, using subsequent warrants to gather further information.
– Based on the location data, police searched a suspect’s home and found nearly $100,000. The suspect claimed in court that the use of geofence data violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
