Court documents showed that Google provided the IP addresses of people who searched for the arson victim's address, which investigators tied to a phone number belonging to Williams. Police then used the phone number records to pinpoint the location of Williams' device near the arson, according to court documents.
The original warrant sent to Google is still sealed, but the report provides another example of a growing trend of data requests to the search engine giant in which investigators demand data on a large group of users rather than a specific request on a single suspect.
The keyword warrants are similar to geofence warrants, in which police make requests to Google for data on all devices logged in at a specific area and time.
Lawmakers in New York have proposed legislation to make these searches illegal, while in Illinois, a federal judge found that the practice violated the Fourth Amendment.
Todd Spodek, the attorney representing Williams, said he plans to challenge the legality of the keyword warrant issued in June.
Spodek said he's seen more of these types of warrants being issued in criminal investigations and worries it could lead to wrongful accusations in the future.
Keyword warrants go against that concept by giving up data on a large group of people associated with searching for certain phrases.
Both Lynch and Spodek said reverse search warrants are being used more and more frequently by police departments, and call the practice unconstitutional.
Original article