The Supreme Court Will Decide Whether 'Geofence' Warrants Violate Your Privacy

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could reshape digital privacy for everyone who carries a phone. On January 16, 2026, the justices granted review in Chatrie v. United States (No. 25-112), and a decision is expected during the current term.

What is a geofence warrant

A geofence warrant lets police ask a company like Google for the identities of every device that was inside a chosen area during a chosen window of time. Instead of naming a suspect, it starts with a place and works backward — potentially sweeping in bystanders who happened to be nearby.

The question before the Court

Okello Chatrie was identified through a geofence warrant and convicted in a 2019 robbery. The legal fight is over whether running that warrant is a Fourth Amendment search at all. A district judge found the warrant likely violated the Fourth Amendment; the Fourth Circuit disagreed, reasoning that no search occurred because the location data had been shared with Google — an application of the “third-party doctrine.”

What it means for you

This is pending — the Court has not ruled, so nothing has changed yet. But the stakes are large. A ruling could decide how broadly police may cast a digital dragnet, what they must show a judge first, and how narrowly a geofence must be drawn. It follows the Court’s direction in Carpenter v. United States, which already required a warrant for historical phone-location records. We will update this post when the decision comes down. To understand the right at issue, read our breakdown of the Fourth Amendment and our guide on whether police can track your phone’s location.

Educational only — not legal advice.