Overview
- Geofence warrants seek location data for all devices within a set place and time to identify people near a crime scene, prompting concerns about sweeping searches.
- The case stems from a Google warrant that helped identify Okello Chatrie in the 2019 robbery of a Midlothian, Virginia bank; he pleaded guilty and received nearly 12 years in prison.
- Lower courts split on the practice, with the Fourth Circuit allowing the evidence in a fractured ruling and the Fifth Circuit holding such warrants unconstitutional.
- The Justice Department argues geofence requests are not Fourth Amendment searches and emphasizes that users opt into location services.
- Google changed how it stores location data in 2025, making these requests harder to fulfill, and the government says the shift may narrow the dispute as arguments are expected later this year.