“Investigations and media reports over the last year have chronicled how large mobile telecommunications providers have sold protected geo-location data of their subscribers to vendors, which was subsequently repackaged and sold to bounty hunters, bail bondsmen, and any member of the public willing to pay a nominal fee,” Irwin’s office said in a press release.
Irwin noted that while the largest cellphone carriers have said they would stop selling their customers’ geo-location data, reports indicate that “their more recent re-commitments to discontinue the practices seem like more empty promises.”
“The sale of your phone’s geo-location is a fundamental violation of a subscriber’s privacy,” Irwin said in the release. “Law enforcement must obtain a warrant under both state and federal law to access your geo-location, an appropriate safeguard that recognizes the sensitive nature of a person’s current and past location. The real-world implications for personal safety are frightening when this information is shared with non-law enforcement.”
Irwin’s AB 523 “will provide Californians with the ability to keep these large companies and their executives to their word and ensure Californians’ geo-location is not sold or shared without their consent,” she said.
