The Supreme Court has been faced with many cases regarding violation of the fourth amendment throughout the last several decades. Technology has made this problem even more relevant as cell phones, global positioning systems, and laptops have become more prevalent. The problem of having so much access to personal information because of this technology has brought up the question of whether this access violates the fourth amendment. Chief Justice Alex Kozinski compares this access to George Orwell's prediction of 1984 and "Big Brother's" reign over the country. It deals with the problem of whether government can draw upon individual peoples' property when it aids them in any way, which most likely involves investingating crimes. This was brought up in United States v. Knotts (1983) over thirty years ago. The resurfacing of this issue has been caused by a case, United States v. Jones (2011), which is an upcoming case for the Supreme Court. This once again tackles the issue of violating the fourth amendment rights within the confines of technology, more specifically GPS.
Because of web 2.0 and the constantly developing technology, there are always many lines that seem to be crossed because people do not know what is legal and what is not. One of these, the issue with the fourth amendment, will force the Supreme Court to truly question whether the use of GPS in government is constitutional or not. For both parties involved in this problem, the arguments are viable; however, there is a huge difference between tracking a criminal on the run, and using thermal imaging to look into someone's home.
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