A Fourth Amendment case, Carpenter vs. United States, currently being decided upon by the U.S. Supreme Court focuses on key digital privacy questions, and its decision has the potential to influence future location-tracking practices, Forbes reports. The case questions whether law enforcement’s warrantless access to seven months of cell tower location data, which was then used to study a defendant’s movements as part of a robbery investigation, is unconstitutional. While the government states the defendant had “no legitimate expectation of privacy,” the defense argues, that “cell phone location data does not necessarily involve any voluntary act on the part of users.” Privacy advocates have raised concern that if the decision rules in favor of government access to location data, citizens could be placed at greater risk for future surveillance by law enforcement. 
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