U.S. Supreme Court says cellphone location history needs warrant

TL;DR: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 29, 2026, in a 6-3 decision that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain a person’s detailed cellphone location history from a technology company, even for a short period.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 29, 2026, in a 6-3 decision that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain a person’s detailed cellphone location history from a technology company, even when the data covers only a short period.

The ruling concerns detailed cellphone location history held by a technology company rather than data collected directly by police. The decision means that obtaining this type of location record is treated as a search under the Fourth Amendment.

9to5Mac reported that the decision applies even when the requested location history covers only a short time window. The source excerpt did not name the specific technology company, case name, or operational compliance steps following the ruling.

Related questions

• What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule about cellphone location history on June 29, 2026?
• Does a short period of cellphone location data count as a Fourth Amendment search?
• Who holds the cellphone location data covered by the Supreme Court ruling?