Chatrie v. United States · ¶17

This case concerns a form of cell-phone location data called “Location History,” which Google apps collect and store. Location History is what it sounds like—a timestamped record of every place a cell phone has been. Every two minutes or so, Location History draws from an array of sources to log a cell phone’s location. Those sources include nearby Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth beacons, and cell sites, as well as GPS and IP address information. When combined, the signals tracked can determine a cell phone’s location within 20 meters. They can also ascertain a phone’s elevation, and thus reveal which floor within a building the phone is on. By all accounts, those features make Location History “the most sweeping, granular, and comprehensive tool” existing today for collecting and storing location data. 590 F. Supp. 3d 901, 907 (ED Va. 2022).

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