No. 25-1191October Term 2025Petition Pending
Michael Joseph Gasper, Petitioner v. Wisconsin
Michael Joseph Gasper asks the Supreme Court to review whether police violated the Fourth Amendment by viewing a cloud-service provider’s report and related previously unviewed digital files without a warrant.
Case status
- Current stage
- Petition Pending
- Latest event
- Petition pending
- Decision timing
- No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.
- What it's about
Michael Joseph Gasper asks the Supreme Court to review whether police violated the Fourth Amendment by viewing a cloud-service provider’s report and related previously unviewed digital files without a warrant. The case also concerns whether any violation can be excused under the good-faith exception to the rule that illegally obtained evidence is generally excluded.
Question presented
1. Whether a person is entitled to a constitutionally protected “reasonable expectation of privacy” in data uploaded from their privacy protected cellphone to their remote private Electronic Service Provider (ESP) account (i.e., “the Cloud”). 2. Whether warrantless viewing by law enforcement of a previously unviewed virtual computer scan “CyberTip” provided to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) by a commercial ESP violates the Fourth Amendment and does not fall within the “Private Search” exception to the Fourth Amendment. 3. Whether the “Good Faith Exception” to the exclusionary rule applies to obviate an otherwise unconstitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement by law enforcement’s warrantless viewing of a person’s privacy protected cyberdata uploaded from their cellphone to their remote ESP account.
- Case path
Supreme Court of Wisconsin / Petition pending
- Area
Criminal Procedure
Briefing
What it's about
Michael Joseph Gasper asks the Supreme Court to consider whether police violated the Fourth Amendment by viewing a cloud provider's report and previously unviewed digital files without a warrant. The petition also questions whether the good-faith exception can prevent exclusion of evidence if a Fourth Amendment violation occurred.
Argument
A petition for certiorari (the Court's decision whether to hear a case) has been filed, and oral argument is not yet scheduled.
Impact
The case could affect people who store private cellphone data in cloud accounts and law enforcement officers investigating reports from commercial online services. For example, it could shape whether police need a warrant before viewing digital files that a provider's automated scan flagged but no person had viewed.
What is at stake in Gasper v. Wisconsin?
The case asks whether the Fourth Amendment protects private cellphone data uploaded to a person's cloud account from warrantless police viewing.
How could Gasper v. Wisconsin affect cloud users and police?
It could shape when police need a warrant to view provider reports and digital files flagged by automated scans.
What happens next in Gasper v. Wisconsin?
The Court may decide whether to hear the case. Oral argument has not been scheduled.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary materials plus reporting.
- Note
- Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Sep 3, 2026
- Method
- Methodology