New York state bill that would have banned

Police in Minneapolis used a geofence warrant to identify individuals who attended protests following the police killing of George Floyd.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 prompted fears that law enforcement in states where access to abortion care is limited or seeking an abortion is illegal could use geofence warrants to identify those who seek care.

Lawmakers subsequently urged Google to stop collecting location data over fears the information could be used to identify people seeking abortions.

Although the companies have said little about how many geofence warrants they receive, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo last year backed a New York state bill that would have banned the use of geofence warrants across the state. The bill failed to advance into law.