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Police are finding suspects based on their online searches as courts weigh privacy concerns
Law enforcement uses reverse keyword warrants to identify suspects in cases lacking leads while courts debate privacy and Fourth Amendment implications.
- Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review reverse keyword warrants as criminal investigators have asked Google to identify who searched specific terms.
- With few leads, investigators turn to Google search data because it can point to who sought addresses or names, prosecutors say the method works best with distinctive search terms or planned crimes.
- In Pennsylvania, a warrant directing Google to disclose accounts that searched a victim's name or address led police to John Edward Kurtz's home, DNA match, and a 59-to-280-year sentence.
- Privacy advocates warned warrants could give police 'unfettered access,' while Google reviews and objects to overbroad law enforcement requests, amid a court split involving three justices.
- Unlike geofence warrants, reverse keyword warrants work backward from queries and raise distinct legal questions, while a Brazilian high court is expected to decide soon and Google's search AI may deepen privacy concerns.
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Police finding suspects based on their online searches
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Criminal investigators hoping to develop suspects in difficult cases have been asking Google to reveal who searched for specific information online, seeking “reverse keyword” warrants that critics warn threaten the privacy of innocent people.
Associated Press News+75 Reposted by 75 other sources
Police are finding suspects based on their online searches as courts weigh privacy concerns
Criminal investigators hoping to develop a suspect are turning to a powerful cyber tool by asking Google to disclose who had been searching for relevant information.
·United States
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Total News Sources78
Leaning Left10Leaning Right6Center55Last UpdatedBias Distribution78% Center
Bias Distribution
- 78% of the sources are Center
78% Center
14%
C 78%
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