Man uploads files containing The Bad Stuff to his Google Drive account. Google tips off law enforcement, and a detective has a peek at a few files without a warrant. When law enforcement follow up months later, the man confesses and directs officers to incriminating evidence. Fourth Circuit: The initial peek was an unlawful search. He had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his account (knowing Google might take a look doesn't mean one expects the gov't to) and in the files (deepening a circuit split on whether Google's hash-matching algorithm destroys privacy in digital files). “Just as Americans enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in files maintained in a filing cabinet in the physical world, so too, Americans enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in the digital files they place in cloud based storage accounts."
But the later-discovered evidence comes in. In prison, he must stay.
The case is United States v. Lowers, No. 24-4546 (4th Cir. Mar. 11, 2026).
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