Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Geofence Warrants

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that geofence warrants, which allow law enforcement to access location data from devices that passed through a designated area, are unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. This decision, which arose from the case United States v. Smith involving a 2018 robbery, emphasizes that such warrants constitute general warrants prohibited by the Constitution, as they indiscriminately collect data from innocent individuals. The court's ruling creates a split with the Fourth Circuit, which previously upheld geofence warrants as constitutional. While the Fifth Circuit acknowledged law enforcement's good faith in relying on these warrants, it firmly established that the broad data collection violates citizens' rights to privacy. This ruling could prompt a Supreme Court review due to the differing opinions among circuit courts. The Electronic Frontier Foundation hailed the decision as a significant victory for privacy rights.