Massachusetts seeks to be the first state to ban the buying and selling of smartphone location data
Besides protecting smartphone users in the state from having their location data bought and sold, the legislation would also require that law enforcement obtain a warrant in order to obtain the location data from a smartphone, and would also ban data brokers from providing location information about Massachusetts residents without a court order. The bill is typical of the action being taken by states since there is no national law that covers the buying and selling of location data.
The Massachusetts Legislature could pass a bill banning the buying and selling of location data from mobile devices
Ten states have passed privacy laws under both Republican and Democratic legislatures and bipartisan proposals have been brought up for a national bill but so far not enough support for any of them has surfaced. No state has completely banned the buying and selling of location data with most states simply requiring that data brokers and other firms trafficking in location data get clear consent from consumers to obtain their data.
Of course, opposition to the bill came from a trade association for the tech industry that said passing the bill would put Massachusetts out of step with other states. Andrew Kingman, a lawyer representing the State Privacy & Security Coalition, said, “The definition of sale is extremely broad.” He did note that the tech industry would give consumers “the ability to opt-out of sale.”
More local and state police are subscribing to get access to smartphone location data
Supporters of the bill worry that location data could be used to track people traveling out of state for an abortion. Others are concerned about being stalked online. The bill would still allow location data to be used to deliver rideshare service or weather information to consumers in the state. But the buying and selling of that data to other companies would not be allowed by the bill.
