Technology Privacy Surveillance

United States v. Jones held that the government's installation and use of a GPS tracker on a vehicle was a Fourth Amendment search. The decision emphasized that Katz privacy analysis did not replace the older rule protecting people against physical government trespass on persons, houses, papers, and effects to obtain information.

Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), held that the Fourth Amendment generally requires police to get a warrant before searching digital information on a cell phone seized incident to arrest. The Court balanced law enforcement needs against the uniquely broad privacy interests in modern phones and left room for exigent circumstances in urgent cases.

In Carpenter v. United States, the Supreme Court held that law enforcement's acquisition of extensive historical cell-site location information is a Fourth Amendment search. A lower Stored Communications Act order was not enough; a probable-cause warrant is generally required for this kind of detailed location tracking.