Not sure how they have gotten away with this for so long, but hopefully it will come to an end.

A geofence warrant is when police go to a company like Google, Microsoft, Uber, Snapchat etc and compel them to provide information about all people they can identify within a certain geographic area at a specified time, like when a crime occurred. Police do it when they have no idea who committed the crime, and use this method to develop a list of suspects-and that includes everyone anywhere in the vicinity. In cities, that may include everyone staying at multiple large hotels, conference centers, large corporate headquarters etc.

I’m 2021 Google said a quarter of the warrants they receive are geofence warrants, so they are widely used. And as long as the police can get away with it, why wouldn’t they? They were first used by Federal authorities about 10 years ago.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/28/scotus...arguments/

This should obviously be illegal, but my confidence the SC will rule that way is insanely low. Maybe they'll put out a split the baby ruling that puts "limits" on it that are easily exploitable, but that's about the best case scenario I can see.

(04-30-2026 07:23 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  This should obviously be illegal, but my confidence the SC will rule that way is insanely low. Maybe they'll put out a split the baby ruling that puts "limits" on it that are easily exploitable, but that's about the best case scenario I can see.

I trust courts a lot less in cases regarding law enforcement issues.

Notice how little news this has garnered?

Even though the biggest internet companies out there, with a huge opportunity to provide news to their users, they have pretty much remained silent and just kept providing what was requested without question.

(04-30-2026 02:27 AM)Todor Wrote:  Not sure how they have gotten away with this for so long, but hopefully it will come to an end.

A geofence warrant is when police go to a company like Google, Microsoft, Uber, Snapchat etc and compel them to provide information about all people they can identify within a certain geographic area at a specified time, like when a crime occurred. Police do it when they have no idea who committed the crime, and use this method to develop a list of suspects-and that includes everyone anywhere in the vicinity. In cities, that may include everyone staying at multiple large hotels, conference centers, large corporate headquarters etc.

I’m 2021 Google said a quarter of the warrants they receive are geofence warrants, so they are widely used. And as long as the police can get away with it, why wouldn’t they? They were first used by Federal authorities about 10 years ago.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/28/scotus...arguments/

Where is dimestore when a real constitutional issue arises.

Guess it has been discussed on the redditards yet.

(04-30-2026 07:23 AM)b0ndsj0ns Wrote:  This should obviously be illegal, but my confidence the SC will rule that way is insanely low. Maybe they'll put out a split the baby ruling that puts "limits" on it that are easily exploitable, but that's about the best case scenario I can see.

we easily agree on this one...

with AI and the too many variables - including manipulation, 1984 has to be denied until properly legislated ... that's another one that will take a shiteload of time (which I'm certain they'll muck as well)

this is the problem with the tech vs. swamp ... one moves forward exponentially - the other is simply mired in the mud...

(04-30-2026 01:53 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(04-30-2026 02:27 AM)Todor Wrote:  Not sure how they have gotten away with this for so long, but hopefully it will come to an end.

A geofence warrant is when police go to a company like Google, Microsoft, Uber, Snapchat etc and compel them to provide information about all people they can identify within a certain geographic area at a specified time, like when a crime occurred. Police do it when they have no idea who committed the crime, and use this method to develop a list of suspects-and that includes everyone anywhere in the vicinity. In cities, that may include everyone staying at multiple large hotels, conference centers, large corporate headquarters etc.

I’m 2021 Google said a quarter of the warrants they receive are geofence warrants, so they are widely used. And as long as the police can get away with it, why wouldn’t they? They were first used by Federal authorities about 10 years ago.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/28/scotus...arguments/

Where is dimestore when a real constitutional issue arises.

My guess is he's busy reading Ketanji's book.