Topic: fourth amendment
-
Proximity Alone Can Drag You Into a Police Investigation
The Supreme Court case "Chatrie v. United States" challenges the legality of geofence warrants, which law enforcement used to track a bank robbery suspect via Google's Location History data, raising fundamental questions about Fourth Amendment protection of digital location privacy. While Google ...
Read More » -
Airport Phone Confiscation: What Happens Next
A Minnesota labor organizer had her phone seized by CBP after returning from Europe, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is suing, alleging the confiscation violates the Fourth Amendment and targets left-wing activists. CBP can conduct basic or advanced forensic searches of devic...
Read More » -
Digital Devices Threaten Your Privacy Rights
Modern digital devices are powerful surveillance tools, requiring users to make an informed calculation about the trade-offs between convenience and being monitored. The scope of surveillance has expanded beyond historically targeted groups, now making anyone a potential target if their personal ...
Read More » -
FBI Purchases Americans' Location Data, Report Reveals
The FBI purchases commercial location data without a warrant, exploiting a legal loophole that bypasses the Supreme Court's warrant requirement for data from cell providers. This practice has sparked bipartisan privacy concerns, with critics like Senator Wyden arguing it violates the Fourth Amend...
Read More » -
FBI Resumes Buying Americans' Location Data, Insider Confirms
The FBI has resumed purchasing commercially available location data on Americans, a policy reversal defended by Director Kash Patel as a vital national security tool that operates within legal boundaries. The practice, which involves buying aggregated app data without a traditional warrant, is cr...
Read More » -
Congressional Alarm Grows Over US Wiretap Expansion
A bipartisan coalition is urgently warning that Section 702 of FISA, a foreign surveillance law up for reauthorization, risks being turned into a tool for warrantless domestic spying on American citizens. During a hearing, witnesses and lawmakers demanded a warrant requirement for searching the S...
Read More » -
Pentagon AI Surveillance: Is It Legal for Americans?
The Pentagon's potential use of AI for domestic surveillance is a major legal debate, highlighted by Anthropic's refusal to cooperate on ethical grounds, while OpenAI initially agreed before reversing course due to public backlash. The core legal dispute centers on whether existing laws adequatel...
Read More » -
CBP Phone Searches at US Border Hit Record High
U.S. Customs and Border Protection electronic device searches surged by 17% in the past year, reaching 55,424 in fiscal year 2025, driven by intensified immigration enforcement and expanded surveillance authority. Border agents have broad legal power to inspect devices without warrants at entry p...
Read More » -
Google and OpenAI Staff Back Anthropic's Pentagon Stance in Open Letter
Hundreds of employees at Google and OpenAI have publicly endorsed an open letter supporting Anthropic's refusal to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI systems, particularly for domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Key executives from OpenAI and Google have expressed sym...
Read More » -
VPNs May Not Protect You From NSA Surveillance
Congressional scrutiny questions whether using an overseas VPN might cause U.S. citizens to lose Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches. The legal framework for surveillance is complex, and routing data through a foreign server may subject it to different authorities, potential...
Read More »