The practice of police tapping Google for users’ location data was first revealed in 2019.
Google has long relied on its users’ location data to drive its advertising business, which during 2022 alone brought in about 80% of Google’s annual revenues, some $220 billion.
But in reality, this surveillance technique is thought to be far wider. Law enforcement later expanded its demands for location data to other companies.
Microsoft and Yahoo (which owns TechCrunch) are known to receive geofence warrants, though neither company has yet disclosed how many demands for users’ location data they receive.