The January 23, 2012, U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Jones1 concerning the use of a global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices raises more questions than it answers for use of expanding technology by law enforcement. As technology moves ever forward and expectations of privacy seem to be dwindling, the Jones decision refocuses the understanding of what constitutes a search back to the legal trespass principles in use at the time the Fourth Amendment was adopted. This rearward-looking approach to defining what constitutes a search will require law enforcement agencies to recalibrate their understanding of what privacy a person can reasonably expect, when their use of technology rises to the level of a search, and how best to employ emerging technology consistent with this old take on new trends. As technology advances toward a point where any aspect of a person’s life can be monitored by the government without much effort, the court makes it clear that it will analyze privacy and Fourth Amendment intrusions applying 18th century notions of privacy.
