Volume 44, Issue II
By Nicole Alexandra Plante*
This Note examines the application of third-party doctrine to location data and argues that the doctrine, as it currently stands, is unworkable in the modern digital era. Third-party doctrine holds that individuals forfeit Fourth Amendment protections when they voluntarily and knowingly share information with third parties, such as map or social media applications. However, individuals today routinely share sensitive location data with third parties, often without full awareness or meaningful consent. The Supreme Court acknowledged this challenge in Carpenter v. United States, carving out an exception for location information collected by cell towers, but failing to provide a clear framework for lower courts to apply.
