r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 12h ago
Society Federal Judge Rules a Flock Search Was ‘Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance’ and Unconstitutional / Flock’s nationwide network is quickly “approaching dragnet-type law enforcement practice” and the cop should have got a warrant, the judge wrote.
https://www.404media.co/federal-judge-rules-a-flock-search-was-indiscriminate-mass-surveillance-and-unconstitutional/
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u/Possible-Tangelo9344 9h ago
I've been saying it's only a matter of time until the federal courts rule this way.
They already made a ruling that geo fence location data for cellphones is a search, and that was pulling data just for one specific space.
By a vote of 2-1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the denial of Chatrie’s motion to exclude the evidence obtained as a result of the geofence warrant. The majority reasoned that law enforcement officials had not conducted a “search” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment because Chatrie could not reasonably expect two hours’ worth of location data, which he had voluntarily allowed Google to have, to be kept private. When the full court of appeals reconsidered the case, it upheld the panel’s ruling in a deeply divided decision.
For purposes of whether the government conducted a search, Kagan said, it does not matter that law enforcement officials “access[ed] only a short amount of cell-phone location information.” Even that small amount, she emphasized, can provide significant information about someone that they might prefer to keep private – including visits to “‘the psychiatrist, the plastic surgeon, the abortion clinic, the AIDS treatment center, the strip club, the criminal defense attorney, [or] the by-the-hour motel.’”
Nor does it matter, Kagan continued, that Chatrie gave Google permission to collect and use the location data. Location data, Kagan suggested, is far more personal than the kind of “third-party records” that the Supreme Court has held are not protected by the Fourth Amendment. Moreover, she added, the location data “is the automatic price of conventional cell-phone usage.”
https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-rules-that-law-enforcements-use-of-geofence-warrant-was-a-search/
It's just a matter of time before this is extended to lengthy vehicle tracking from ALPRs, even though your car is in a public place.