Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026A federal district judge just declared that Flock camera systems violate the Fourth Amendment! Applying Chatrie, the court concludes that extensive camera networks engage in unlawful "indiscriminate mass surveillance." A major ruling. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... 14118
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I was honored to give the Keynote Address at the Nebraska Law Review's annual symposium last week. I spoke about the future of surveillance and law enforcement, and I'll post my keynote article sometime later this fall. It was a great event and I enjoyed it so much. 011
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026My new paper forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review explains, among other things, how Flock cameras should be analyzed under Chatrie v. US. Basically, it’s going to depend on how many cameras there are. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 0106
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 01/09/2026New on SSRN – My essay forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review explains the new Fourth Amendment law and applies it to internet browsing, google search history, license plate readers, pole cameras, and more. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 063
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Now up on SSRN - My essay, forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review, examines the Supreme Court's new Fourth Amendment doctrine and explains how lower courts should address Fourth Amendment questions going forward. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 184
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026What is Fourth Amendment law now? My new essay, forthcoming in the Notre Dame Law Review, tries to answer that question. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 0104
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Somehow I just found out today that our 2024 paper on the systemic regulation of AI was "highly recommended" by @lsolum's Legal Theory Blog. Better late than never! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 040
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026If Chatrie transformed Fourth Amendment law, then what is Fourth Amendment law now? In the second part of a trilogy of blog posts on the Chatrie case, I offer a potential answer. www.dorfonlaw.org/2026/07/what... 020
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 06/07/2026I break down the Supreme Court's landmark Chatrie case and what it means in a new blog post at Dorf on Law. www.dorfonlaw.org/2026/07/brea... 0103
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 23/06/2026My new short essay, Artificial Intelligence and the Lessons of History, is up on SSRN. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 063
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Forgot to post: Our article on Decentering Property in Fourth Amendment Law is out in final form in the UChicago Law Review! lawreview.uchicago.edu/print-archiv... 092
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Florida sues OpenAI on various grounds (products liability, negligence, unfair trade practices), calling its products deceptive and unsafe and blaming OpenAI for several murders and suicides. variety.com/wp-content/u... 010
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 29/04/2026New to SSRN: AI existential risk is becoming a mainstream, widely recognized policy issue. Our new article, forthcoming in the Connecticut Law Review, explains how the law can help address it. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 140
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026Chatrie’s reply brief makes a crucial point here. The government argues that it can track anyone’s location at any time in the past, for no reason, so long as it does not collect more than 7 days’ worth of total data. I argue against that here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 010
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 15/04/2026We filed an amicus brief in Chatrie v. US, which will argued be at SCOTUS in two weeks. Check it out here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 142
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 09/04/2026Just received @profferguson.bsky.social's new book, I'm excited to read it! You can get it here: nyupress.org/978147983829... 043
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Forgot to post this: Our article on the Good Faith Exception is out in final form in the Georgetown Law Journal! www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-l... 041
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 02/04/2026Now on SSRN, I review Orin Kerr’s new book, The Digital Fourth Amendment, for the Michigan Law Review. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 060
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 20/01/2026I'll be speaking about the latest Fourth Amendment issues, including lots about geofences and Chatrie, online for Albany Law. You can register here, it's free (or $30 for CLE credit): alumni.albanylaw.edu/s/977/21/1co... 010
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 10/11/2025The claim that using chatbots like therapists has a positive social effect is dubious. Chatbots may give good advice or may worsen a users' disorder by encouraging their worst impulses. AI apps tell users not to use them for therapy, and the law, too, should discourage this. 3/ 210
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 10/11/2025This lazy take on "AI interaction privilege" in today's @nytimes.com is doubly wrong. First, it's wrong that Google searches and private AI chats are unprotected under the 4th Amendment. Second, it's wrong that we should protect AI queries based on a therapist-style privilege. 1/ 131
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 02/07/2025I recently came across this Ohio Court of Appeals case that adopts the Carpenter Test overtly - the first court to do so! (Hundreds of courts have used these factors informally.) Thank you to Judges Mental, Boggs, and Edelstein for their kind references to my work. 050
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 16/06/2025I hit 10,000 SSRN downloads today! Grateful to all my readers. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/... 170
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 11/06/2025Our new paper, Decentering Property in Fourth Amendment Law is now out in the U. Chicago Law Review! It argues that property concepts should be used very carefully, and very little, in modern Fourth Amendment law. lawreview.uchicago.edu/sites/defaul... 073
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Thanks also to Judge Berner for catching that the claims that Google location history is off by default and that "two-thirds" of Google users decline location history are misleading or false. I've been pounding the table about this, e.g. here: www.dorfonlaw.org/2024/07/the-... 011
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 21/04/2025My new paper with Mike Gentithes on the Good Faith Exception is now out in the Georgetown Law Journal! It features the first large-scale empirical study of the exception and how courts use it. www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-l... 1162
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 14/02/2025Thank you to Judge Jordan of the 11th Circuit for the citation. The idea that the government can point secret surveillance cameras at your home forever without a warrant is unsustainable under Carpenter. And it's inimical to 4th Amendment values. 3194
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 05/09/2024Our article, "Systemic Regulation of Artificial Intelligence" has now been published in the Arizona State Law Journal. It looks at AI's society-wide risks-- present and future--and law's role in addressing them. arizonastatelawjournal.org/2024/08/22/s... 131
Matthew Tokson @mtokson.bsky.social · 16/10/2023I podcasted again - this time with the Privacy Abbreviated podcast to discuss my new paper on government purchases of private data. I had a great time! www.accountabilitystudio.org/2023/09/27/t... 020