WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) are once again pushing legislation to protect Americans’ personal privacy, this time by ending stalking apps, which abusers can put on victims' smartphones to secretly track their location. Legislation they introduced Thursday would require companies to get consumers' permission before collecting location data off their smartphones, tablets, or in-car navigation devices like OnStar and Garmin, and would also require permission before sharing location information with third parties. 

“Every new app we install on our smartphones tests the balance between convenience and privacy,” said Senator Coons. “Each time we allow an app or mobile device to track our location, consumers are creating an opportunity for abuse of which they need to be fully cognizant. The companies that are granted access to this information have a responsibility to prevent this abuse, and systems that automatically track users' locations should, by default, protect their users' privacy. Sensitive personal information should not be for sale without users' explicit consent. This legislation is designed to help our laws keep pace with our technology, and ensure that we can remain vigilant as location-tracking technology continues to grow.”

“It’s been five years since the Department of Justice issued a report on GPS stalking, and eight years since data was last collected — that was before the first iPhone was even sold,” Senator Coons continued. “The technological opportunities for stalking have exploded since then. The federal government needs to take a new look at this issue to get a handle on the full scope of the problem. Our legislation would require the Department of Justice to take a new look at the privacy vulnerabilities of geo-location software to ensure Americans’ personal privacy is as protected as possible.” Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Location Privacy Protection Act is built on similar legislation they first introduced in 2012, which passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support. Their updated legislation would:

  • Require that companies get individuals' permission before collecting location data off of their smartphones, tablets, or in-car navigation devices, and before sharing it with others. This rule doesn't apply to parents tracking kids, emergencies, and similar scenarios;
  • Stymie GPS stalking by preventing companies from collecting location data in secret;
  • Require that any company that collects the location data of 1,000 or more devices publicly disclose the data they're collecting, what they do with it, who they share it with, and how people can stop that collection or sharing;
  • Ban the development, operation, and sale of GPS stalking apps--and allow law enforcement to seize the proceeds of those sales to fund anti-stalking efforts; and
  • Require that the federal government gather more information about GPS stalking, facilitate reporting of GPS stalking, and prioritize training grants for law enforcement.

A more detailed summary of the bill is available here.

Earlier this year, Senator Coons joined Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to introduce the Driver Privacy Act, which would make it clear that the owner of a vehicle is also the owner of any information collected by an event data recorder. 

In 2011, at the urging of Senators Coons and Franken, OnStar reversed a decision to track the locations of its customers and potentially sell that information to third parties even after those customers have terminated their service plans with the company.