Supreme Court delivers \u2018major win\u2019 for tech privacy in Chatrie ruling | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a landmark 6-3 Supreme Court geofence warrant ruling, justices declared that collecting phone location data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/supreme-court-geofence-warrant-ruling-phone-privacy-chatrie\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court delivers \u2018major win\u2019 for tech privacy in Chatrie ruling\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a landmark 6-3 Supreme Court geofence warrant ruling, justices declared that collecting phone location data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/supreme-court-geofence-warrant-ruling-phone-privacy-chatrie\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" 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<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.651600753296\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"34.393700787402\">\n<p> Dissenting justices who criticized the ruling said it would have \u201cseismic\u201d implications for the Fourth Amendment. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/89602\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/supreme-court-delivers-major-win-for-tech-privacy-in-chatrie-ruling.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" 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(Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"44.738974970203\"><body readability=\"91.250428816467\"><\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court ruled Monday that collecting phone location data from a geographic area is a Fourth Amendment search, in a decision that both privacy advocates and critics of the ruling say will have vast implications for tech privacy.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/25-112_0am4.pdf\">6-3 ruling<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/supreme-court-geofence-warrants-chatrie-case\/\">Chatrie v. The United States<\/a> is a \u201cmajor win\u201d for privacy under the Fourth Amendment, said one law professor who studies surveillance. And it \u201cwill send seismic waves through our Fourth Amendment doctrine\u201d with ramifications \u201cfor the foreseeable future,\u201d the dissenting justices wrote. The ruling didn\u2019t fall along some of the traditional lines of justices selected by Republican or Democratic presidents.<\/p>\n<p>Okello Chatrie challenged police\u2019s collection of cell phone data from Google in his bank robbery conviction under a so-called geofence warrant that gleaned insights about his location around the time of the crime. While the Supreme Court punted on the question of whether the specific warrant in his case was proper, it held that the Fourth Amendment\u2019s protections apply to this kind of data collection \u2014 and potentially other, future kinds as well.<\/p>\n<p>Among the issues the court debated was whether a generalized collection constitutes a search as defined by the Fourth Amendment\u2019s rights against \u201cunreasonable searches and seizures.\u201d That included questions of whether someone who willingly gives their data to a company like Google retains Fourth Amendment projections for that information, under the \u201cthird-party doctrine.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The majority found that cell location data is substantially similar to cell-site location information addressed in Carpenter v. United States (2018), where the court similarly held that the government\u2019s collection of this data constitutes a Fourth Amendment search.<\/p>\n<p>In the new opinion, Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, used sweeping language about how the Fourth Amendment might apply as technology advances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA new technology should not transform what individuals had reasonably thought they could withhold from the Government,\u201d Kagan wrote for the majority with Justices John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. \u201cAn individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records about his cell phone\u2019s location, and police intrude on that constitutionally protected interest when they demand the information \u2014 even though for only a limited time, and from a third-party tech company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion, saying that he differed from Kagan\u2019s opinion only in how it arrived at its conclusions, citing the Fourth Amendment\u2019s language about \u201cpapers\u201d and \u201ceffects\u201d: \u201cAs I see it, Mr. Chatrie\u2019s Location History data qualifies as his personal property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justice Samuel Alito wrote for dissenting justices that the court had gone too far in extrapolating protections specified under the Carpenter decision, saying it \u201cwill send seismic waves through our Fourth Amendment doctrine\u201d despite not affecting Chatrie\u2019s case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cAs the majority works its way through the question in this case, it makes sweeping proclamations with implications far beyond the specific procedure that the police used here,\u201d Alito said, adding that the decision \u201call but guarantees that we will be cleaning up debris for the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University and author of a book about how police use of data threatens personal freedom, said the ruling was big even if it will still be easy for law enforcement to obtain warrants in other ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChatrie is a major win for Fourth Amendment privacy,\u201d he told CyberScoop. \u201cThe Supreme Court did take a significant step today to update the Fourth Amendment in a digital age, and we should be thankful that they did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American Civil Liberties Union also celebrated the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Court\u2019s decision provides critical protection against invasive and overbroad government searches of our personal information,\u201d Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel with ACLU\u2019s Center for Democracy who helped write a friend of the court briefing on Chatrie\u2019s side, said in a statement to CyberScoop. While Google has changed its system in a way that practically cuts off government requests for future location data, \u201csimilar kinds of reverse searches of sensitive data held by other companies will continue to be a threat to privacy. Law enforcement and courts are on notice that new technology does not open up surveillance loopholes, and strict adherence to the Fourth Amendment\u2019s protections is required.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"7.7216117216117\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/supreme-court-delivers-major-win-for-tech-privacy-in-chatrie-ruling-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Tim Starks\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"author-card__details\" readability=\"10.901098901099\">\n<h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Tim Starks<\/h4>\n<p> Tim Starks is senior reporter at CyberScoop. His previous stops include working at The Washington Post, POLITICO and Congressional Quarterly. An Evansville, Ind. native, he’s covered cybersecurity since 2003. Email Tim here: <a href=\"mailto:tim.starks@cyberscoop.com\">tim.starks@cyberscoop.com<\/a>. <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div 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{"id":8783,"date":"2026-06-29T12:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=89602"},"modified":"2026-06-29T12:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:12:09","slug":"supreme-court-delivers-major-win-for-tech-privacy-in-chatrie-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/supreme-court-delivers-major-win-for-tech-privacy-in-chatrie-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court delivers \u2018major win\u2019 for tech privacy in Chatrie ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"