Jana loves to spend lots of time on her android cell phone accessing social media sites, including FaceBook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Jana loves to spend lots of time on her android cell phone accessing social media sites, including FaceBook, Instagram, and TikTok. She is a big fan of Google and has a Google account which she accesses on her cell. Jana takes her cell phone with her whenever she leaves her home. 

            One day, Jana decided to go jogging on a hiking trail nearby where she lived. As she approached the trailhead, she noticed a man dressed in camouflage clothing and tactical gear just getting into a vehicle parked there. She thought it odd to see someone dressed like that at location where hunting was prohibited but quickly dismissed it without much thought. She was more interested in posting a photo and note to her Instagram followers about how great this trail was for runners. When Jana took a selfie at the trailhead sign which, unbeknownst to her, included a frontal view of the man as he got into his car. She then uploaded the photo with her post to Instagram. After she returned home from her trail running, she noticed an emergency alert on her phone about an active shooter in the area.

                 In the days following the event, the police were able to identify Jana as a potential witness to the shooter from electronic data they received from a search of Google location history data. A police officer contacted Jana about the event. During her interview with the officer, Jana mentioned the man she had seen. When asked if she had taken any photos during her run, Jana told the officer about the photo she had posted to her Instagram account. Some questions to consider when analyzing these facts: 

1. Under what legal authority can the police obtain Google location history and what procedural steps would they have to take to obtain this data? 

2. Could the police search Jana’s phone after they learn about the photo? Why or why not?

 3. What legal authority would allow the police to access the photo Jana took? 

4. Did Jana violate any laws when she took the photo at the trailhead? Why or why not? 

5. How can Jana’s photo be legally obtained and admitted into court for trial