Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has reintroduced the Location Privacy Protection Act (S. 2171). Senator Franken first introduced the bill in 2011, and it was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support in 2012. The updated legislation would require: (1) companies to get individuals’ permission before collecting location data off of their smartphones, tablets, or in-car navigation devices, and before sharing it with others; (2) any company collecting the location data of 1,000 or more devices to post online: the kinds of data they collect, how they share and use it, and how people can stop the collection or sharing; and (3) the federal government to gather more information about GPS stalking, facilitate reporting of GPS stalking, and prioritize training grants for law enforcement. The bill also bans the development, operation, and sale of GPS stalking apps – and allows law enforcement to seize the proceeds of those sales to fund anti-stalking efforts.
