- A filing in the case of Jan. 6 defendant David Rhine reportedly shows that Google initially identified 5,723 cellular devices as being in or near the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., during the riot.
- However, just 900 people have so far been charged with offenses in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
- The warrants are issued by a court to allow law enforcement to search a database to find active mobile devices within a particular area.
- The Big Tech firm is served about 10,000 geofence warrants in the U.S. each year.
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The geofence warrants served on Google shortly after the riot remained sealed. However, Rhine’s lawyers recently filed a motion to suppress the geofence evidence, as first reported by journalist Marcy Wheeler on her blog, Emptywheel.
- Google is defending its handling of geofence warrants.
- “We have a rigorous process …. that is designed to protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement,” the company told Wired.
