US appeals court rules geofence warrants are unconstitutional

The U.S. Fifth Circuit ruled that geofence (reverse) warrants are categorically prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, curtailing their use across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, though it upheld a related conviction under the good-faith exception. This contrasts with a recent Fourth Circuit decision that allowed such warrants, underscores privacy concerns around broad location-data searches of Google’s databases, and coincides with tech companies moving location histories to user devices, potentially diminishing the effectiveness of these warrants.