Google Ends 'Geofence Warrants' with New Location Data Policy

The tech giant's policy change allows users to save location history to their device, curtailing law enforcement's ability to compel the company to provide such data.

Google has announced a new policy that allows users to save their location history directly to their device, rather than storing it in the cloud, effectively ending the practice of 'geofence warrants'.
Geofence warrants have allowed law enforcement to legally compel tech firms, mainly Google, to provide location history data to identify the movements of people in a given area, regardless of whether they are a suspect.
Google received 11,554 warrants from law enforcement in 2020, up from 982 in 2018, with the number skyrocketing to 50,000 subpoenas, warrants, and other legal requests in just the first half of 2021.
Privacy watchdogs have warned that these types of surveillance tactics are 'unconstitutional' and have called on state governments to outlaw the practice.
The change does not prevent the government from getting information on a specific user by demanding their full account details, but investigators can no longer hand over coordinates and a timeframe, and compel Google to give identifying data or metadata on all users within those parameters.

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