Third-Party Doctrine: The Threat of the Digital Age

Abstract

The evolution of the Third-Party Doctrine, its impact on the Fourth Amendment, and its current iteration in the modern digital age is evaluated through a number of precedent cases. The Paper will start with the principal of reasonable expectation of privacy, established in Katz v. United States, and carry onward into the foundation of the Third-Party Doctrine in United States v. Miller and Smith v. Maryland, the Court questioning the viability of the doctrine in United States v. Jones, and perhaps shifting its outlook in Carpenter v. United States. The paper will analyze the Third-Party Doctrine concerns through the Carpenter balancing test and conclude with the possible benefits and detriments in applying such a test