--- title: What you should know about geofencing - The Hustle description: Geofence and keyboard warrants are useful for law enforcement, but they’re highly controversial. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/69211023-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-27T233338.346Z.webp --- # What you should know about geofencing ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: June 28, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 In January, New York lawmakers proposed [banning](https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/13/new-york-geofence-keyword-search-warrants-bill/) law enforcement from using geofencing and keyword warrants. ![What you should know about geofencing](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/69211023-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-27T233338.346Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=69211023-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-27T233338.346Z.webp) Though the bill hasn’t seen much movement yet, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has returned the issue to the spotlight. #### **First, what the heck are these warrants?** Geofence and keyword warrants are used to get tech companies like Google to hand over users’ data. Like traditional warrants, they require a judge’s approval. **Geofence warrants** use location data to identify people who were near a crime scene at a specific time, [per](https://slate.com/technology/2022/05/google-geofence-warrants-chatrie-location-tracking.html) *Slate*. - Google [says](https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/man-pleads-guilty-case-testing-geofence-warrant-84619568#:~:text=In%20a%20legal%20brief%20filed,judge%20wrote%20in%20her%20ruling.) geofence warrant requests increased 1.5k% between 2017 and 2018, and now make up over 25% of all US warrants it receives. - Geofencing has been used to [find people](https://www.wired.com/story/capitol-riot-google-geofence-warrant/) who attended the Jan. 6 insurrection, and in a [bank robbery](https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/man-pleads-guilty-case-testing-geofence-warrant-84619568#:~:text=In%20a%20legal%20brief%20filed,judge%20wrote%20in%20her%20ruling.) case in Virginia. **Keyword warrants** look at online searches made within specific locations or time frames. - A 2017 keyword warrant [asked](https://www.yahoo.com/now/government-issuing-keyword-warrants-google-205700650.html) Google for anyone who searched a fraud victim’s name in the city where the crime occurred. #### **Though perhaps useful for law enforcement…** … they’re controversial. New York’s proposed ban is supported by the [ACLU](https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/end-dragnet-warrants-trap-innocent-new-yorkers) and several tech companies, including Google. Also: - Some judges have [ruled](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/08/new-federal-court-rulings-find-geofence-warrants-unconstitutional-0) that the warrants violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans from unreasonable searches and seizures. - Innocent people have become suspects, including an Arizona man [wrongfully arrested](https://harvardlawreview.org/2021/05/geofence-warrants-and-the-fourth-amendment/) for murder, and a Florida man who [became](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/google-tracked-his-bike-ride-past-burglarized-home-made-him-n1151761) a burglary suspect after he biked past a crime scene. #### **Privacy advocates are also concerned…** … that warrants could be used to find people seeking abortions in states where it has or will become illegal. In May, [a report](https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon) from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) detailed how tech might be used to enforce new laws if Roe v. Wade were overturned. - Albert Fox Cahn, STOP’s executive director, [told](https://www.wired.com/story/surveillance-police-roe-v-wade-abortion/)* Wired*, “The truth is that when you develop those techniques, you are at the whim of those in power and whatever they next decide to call a crime.” **Related:** Earlier this month, lawmakers introduced a bill to prevent data brokers from sharing location and health data. Read our coverage [here](https://thehustle.co/06172022-bill-protect-health-location/). 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