The ruling extends constitutional privacy protections to cover hand held devices. Law enforcement agencies had previously argued that cellphones did not require a warrant to be searched because they fell under the exception to the warrant requirement that allows police to search the contents of suspects’ pockets to enure that they are not carrying weapons or are able to destroy existing evidence. In a direct opposition to this assumption, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Modern cellphones aren’t a technological convenience. With all they contain and all they may reveal, they hold for many Americans ‘the privacies of life’… Privacy comes at a cost…Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cellphone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple – get a warrant.’”
Privacy advocates are encouraged by the court’s ruling. Legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union Steven R. Shapiro stated, “By recognizing that the digital revolution has transformed our expectations of privacy, today’s decision is itself revolutionary and will help to protect the privacy rights of all Americans.”