미국 연방법원의 위치정보(locational information)관련 최근 판결례 분석

Abstract

We do live in a digital age. It has been witnessed an explosion of communications and media devices into the market. The use of GPS and the location-related information are is prevalent in modern information ages. According to communication technology developments, the privacy violations arising from governmental abuse of GPS data from cellular phones and vehicle tracking systems are obvious, however. With private telephone conversation, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the 4th Amendment protection on the base of trespass doctrine in Olmstead v. U. S.(227 U. S. 438 (1928)). Regarding to public telephone booth's conversation, the U. S. the Supreme Court recognized the 4th Amendment doctrines with reasonable expectation of privacy theories in Katz v. United States(389 U.S. 347 (1967)). Katz's emphasis on privacy served as a foundation for the later spatial emphasis in Fourth Amendment law, such as United States v. Knotts(460 U.S. 276 (1983)). and United States v. Karo(468 U.S. 705 (1984)). The public-space versus private-space distinction was underlying the beeper related GPS cases, United States v. Knotts(460 U.S. 276 (1983)) as well as United States v. Karo(468 U.S. 705 (1984)). The United States Supreme Court dealt with the Fourth Amendment seizure limitations on government's ability to install a GPS device onto a privately owned vehicle in United States v. Jones(132 S. Ct. 945 (2012)). The Supreme Court's majority opinion of Jones case was based on trespass doctrine of the 18th century English torts law. The government's installation of a GPS device onto a private vehicle without warrant for the purpose of obtaining information constituted a “search” subject to Fourth Amendment protections. It provided no guidance about the conditions that would render such GPS surveillance constitutional. The ruling of Jones case was narrow. Regarding to cellular phone's GPS tracking, the U. S. circuit court partially overruled the rulings of Jones in United States v. Skinner(690 F.3d 772 (2012)) later.