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Minnesota lawmakers push to ban police collection of cellphone data near crime scenes

Mar 17, 2026, 1:09 AM30
(Update: Mar 19, 2026, 4:57 PM)
state of the United States of America

Minnesota lawmakers push to ban police collection of cellphone data near crime scenes

  • A Minnesota bipartisan bill aims to prohibit reverse location warrants for police data collection.
  • Lawmakers emphasize the need to balance constitutional rights with public safety concerns.
  • Ongoing national discussions may influence the future of such warrants and privacy rights.
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In Minnesota, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has put forth a bill aimed at prohibiting law enforcement from obtaining reverse location warrants, which allow the collection of data from cellphones and devices in proximity to a crime scene. This legislative effort, involving key sponsors Omar Fateh, a Democrat, and Eric Lucero, a Republican, was discussed by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on March 9, 2023. The initiative arises amid growing concerns over privacy rights and the implications of such warrants on the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Lawmakers emphasize that the use of reverse location warrants, also known as geofence or dragnet warrants, is excessively broad, thereby undermining individuals' constitutional rights. They advocate that these warrants should only be permitted in emergency situations, as proposed by representatives like Maye Quade, who seeks to balance civil liberties with public safety. More than a mere privacy concern, the legislators' stance is fueled by the realization that reverse location warrants increase the scope of investigations to an unmanageable size, making it akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The spike in reverse location warrants in Minnesota—from 22 in 2018 to 173 in 2020—highlights the necessity to scrutinize these practices closely. Meanwhile, law enforcement groups, including the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, argue that the proposed bill could severely impact public safety and hinder legitimate investigative processes. They acknowledge the importance of individual privacy concerns but believe that a complete ban on such investigative tools is unwarranted. These organizations express readiness to negotiate with lawmakers to address data privacy issues while preserving effective crime-solving tools that are lawful and court-supervised. At the national level, the ongoing legal conversation regarding the constitutionality of reverse location warrants is drawing attention, as the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on this matter. The significant concerns raised by various advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, further amplify the dialogue surrounding privacy and law enforcement practices. The debate reflects a broader societal anxiety over the balance between maintaining public safety and protecting individual civil liberties in an era where surveillance technology is rapidly evolving and becoming more pervasive.

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