Key developments
Supreme Court hears geofence warrant challenge
WISH-TV's Ashley Fowler reported that the Supreme Court will hear a Virginia geofence-warrant case testing whether police need probable cause to demand Google location data for a broad area around a crime scene. The case arose from a 2019 bank robbery, when investigators used a warrant covering phones within roughly 300 meters of the bank to identify Okello Chatrie and later recovered cash, demand notes, and a gun during searches of his home.
Why it matters
A ruling could set the privacy baseline for law enforcement access to bulk location data held by tech companies.
Sources & driving stories
WISH-TV · Ashley Fowler
WISH-TV coverageCalifornia agency rejects federal privacy preemption
Bloomberg Law's Cassandre Coyer reported that California's privacy agency CalPrivacy urged Congress to reject the SECURE Data Act, saying the bill would override state protections and strip the agency of enforcement power. Executive director Tom Kemp said the proposal would erase rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act and Delete Act, weaken data-retention limits, and let companies stop honoring some opt-out preference signals.
Why it matters
The fight will shape whether a national privacy law can replace or weaken stronger state-level consumer rights.
Sources & driving stories
BLOOMBERG LAW · Cassandre Coyer
Bloomberg Law coverageMercor breach triggers biometrics class actions
WebProNews's Eric Hastings reported that a supply-chain attack on the open-source AI tool LiteLLM exposed about 4 terabytes of Mercor contractor data, including voice samples, passports, facial scans, SSNs, Slack chats, and source code. By late April, at least seven class actions had been filed in federal courts in California and Texas alleging the company mishandled highly sensitive biometric and background-check data.
Why it matters
The case shows how AI vendor breaches can quickly turn into large-scale privacy and biometrics litigation.
Sources & driving stories
WEBPRONEWS · Eric Hastings
WebProNews coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Disney uses facial recognition at California park
The deployment is voluntary and deletes biometric data within 30 days, but it normalizes facial surveillance and raises child-privacy concerns.
WORTH NOTING
Colorado surveillance bills advance
The measures would regulate license plate readers, drones, body cameras, facial recognition, and law-enforcement data retention.
WORTH NOTING
Login.gov gets new leader
Leadership at the federal identity-verification platform matters as agencies expand account reuse, verification pathways, and privacy controls.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will geofence warrants survive Carpenter?
The Court's reasoning could determine whether bulk location requests are treated like ordinary third-party records or as searches requiring stronger Fourth Amendment protection.
OPEN QUESTION
Can a federal privacy law avoid preemption backlash?
California's pushback shows any national standard will be judged by how much it preserves existing state rights and enforcement tools.