ABAJ: Law enforcement is using location tracking on mobile devices to identify suspects, but is it unconstitutional?

ABAJ: Law enforcement is using location tracking on mobile devices to identify suspects, but is it unconstitutional? by Wendy Davis:

On May 20, 2019, a man wearing sunglasses, jeans and a reflective vest entered the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian, Virginia, brandished a gun and demanded cash. He made off with $195,000.

Four months later, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 24-year-old Okello Chatrie for the robbery. Authorities arrested Chatrie after presenting Google with a “reverse location”—or geofence—warrant for information on account holders whose mobile devices were near the scene of the crime.

Google can gather location data from people who use Google Maps and other services on their mobile devices. The company says it stores this data only for account holders who have opted into the “location history” feature.

But people who have opted in can manually delete this data. In June, Google said it would automatically delete location history data after 18 months.

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