Church Sues California County Over Alleged Covid-19 Geofencing

A Christian church and its pastor accused a California county of violating its congregants’ privacy and constitutional rights by illegally using a geofencing tool to track residents on church premises during the Covid-19 pandemic’s shelter-in-place order.

The operation had no boundaries, they alleged, enabling the county to track churchgoers in the prayer room and bathroom.

Lead pastor Mike McClure and Calvary Chapel San Jose filed a complaint against Santa Clara County and data company SafeGraph Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. They alleged that the government targeted the church with a surveillance operation over ...