California church fined $1.2M during lockdowns sues over alleged gov't 'spying' operation tracking worshippers

 

EXCLUSIVE – A California church ordered to pay $1.2 million in fines for violating COVID-19 lockdown measures filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging the local government unconstitutionally spied and tracked Christian worshipers through secretive "geofencing" using congregants' cell phone data. 

 

Calvary Chapel San Jose and Pastor Mike McClure accuse Santa Clara County and the Colorado-based data company SafeGraph of embarking "on an invasive and warrantless geofencing operation to track residents" unbeknownst to the public, according to the lawsuit filed by Advocates for Faith & Freedom.

 

The defendants are accused of using geofencing, a location-based tool used by the government to track individuals through their cellphone data, around Calvary Chapel San Jose property so they could see when 

 

"This operation took place over a year with seemingly no oversight, boundaries, or limitations – meaning the Defendants could track churchgoers in the sanctuary, prayer room, or bathroom," the complaint says. 

 

CALIFORNIA JUDGE ORDERS CHURCH THAT DEFIED COVID RULES TO PAY $1.2M

 

 

"This type of expansive geofencing operation is not only an invasion of privacy, but represents a terrifying precedent if allowed to go unaddressed: as it stands, the Defendants are effectively arguing that, as long as they call it research, any level of government can target and spy on any individual or group at any time for any duration, and, if they so choose, they can wield the collected data against said individuals or groups who oppose their orders. This is not just un-American; it is downright Orwellian." 

 

Reached for comment Tuesday about the suit, Santa Clara County referred Fox News Digital to its prior comments in March. 

 

Officials had condemned a story published on Substack by journalist David Zweig that cited court documents in outlining how the county allegedly took various actions — watching church activities through a neighboring property's chain-link fence, walking in on church gatherings like Bible study and tracking churchgoers' cellular mobility data — to surveil Calvary. 

 

 

 

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