Nevada Warrantless Phone Tracking Contract Draws Scrutiny Amid Broader Surveillance Debates
Nevada's Department of Public Safety signed a contract in January with Fog Data Science, enabling law enforcement to track cellphone locations in near real time without a warrant, using data pulled from smartphone apps. The agreement allows over 250 queries per month and has sparked debate about privacy rights and the lack of legislative guardrails around surveillance technology in the state. The disclosure comes alongside separate national discussions about data broker regulation, social media harm to minors, and antitrust enforcement against Live Nation.
Progressive outlets and officials, including Nevada's Democratic Attorney General, frame warrantless location tracking as a civil liberties threat requiring urgent federal and state regulation of data brokers and surveillance tools. They emphasize the disproportionate risks to vulnerable communities and the absence of meaningful oversight.
Nevada's Department of Public Safety has confirmed the Fog Data Science contract, enabling warrantless cellphone location queries, while no state legislation currently restricts its use and legal challenges to similar programs elsewhere remain ongoing.
Conservative-leaning commentators tend to frame law enforcement access to commercial location data as a practical and necessary tool for public safety, arguing that data purchased from commercial brokers differs legally from direct government surveillance requiring a warrant.
Nevada's Department of Public Safety has confirmed the Fog Data Science contract, enabling warrantless cellphone location queries, while no state legislation currently restricts its use and legal challenges to similar programs elsewhere remain ongoing.
Nevada signed a contract in January 2025 with Fog Data Science allowing state investigators to query cellphone location data without a warrant, a practice currently unregulated under state law.