The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a controversial surveillance technique used by law enforcement, finding that it runs afoul of constitutional protections guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment.
In a 6-3 decision, the Court determined that so-called geofencing — a method that allows investigators to obtain location data on every person present within a specific geographic area during a given time period — constitutes an unreasonable search under the Constitution.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion, stating that the technique crosses the line drawn by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches.
The ruling places new restrictions on how law enforcement agencies across the country can use this type of digital location data in their investigations.
