We’re Asking the Ninth Circuit to Hold Reverse Location Warrants Categorically Unconstitutional
The EFF and ACLU have filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit asking the court to rule that 'tower dump' warrants — which force carriers to hand over location data for every phone in a given area — are categorically unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. The case follows a Supreme Court ruling this summer that geofence warrants constitute searches under the Fourth Amendment.
Why this matters: Tower dump warrants work the same way geofence warrants do: start with a location, collect data on everyone there, then sift for suspects. That means your phone's location can land you in a criminal investigation simply because you were nearby. The Supreme Court's geofence ruling cracked the door open. This case asks the Ninth Circuit to walk through it and draw a harder line. If it does, police will need to identify a suspect before sweeping up data, not after.
Who should care: Lawyers · Privacy officers · Compliance · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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