Geolocation Privacy Legislation

This page provides information on congressional bills that seek to clarify how personal location information may be used by law enforcement, companies, employers, and others. This page is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to influence, endorse, or express opinions on any ongoing legal deliberations.

Several U.S. states and non-U.S. jurisdictions have enacted laws establishing personal location privacy rights. However, current U.S. statute at the federal level does not provide clear protection of geolocation information.

Transportation Appropriations Acts

LAW

The Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations act for the Department of Transportation, HUD, and related agencies includes the following provision applicable to the Department of Transportation.

Sec. 143. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to mandate global positioning system (GPS) tracking in private passenger motor vehicles without providing full and appropriate consideration of privacy concerns under 5 U.S.C. chapter 5, subchapter II. View PDF (1.4 MB)

5 U.S.C. chapter 5, subchapter II, refers to the Administrative Procedure Act.

Legislative History

LAW

• DOT proposed to repeal the FY 2016 provision, stating it "would limit NHTSA's GPS work." View PDF (P. 37, 4.3 MB)
• The FY 2013 THUD funding bill included similar language (Section 429). It passed the House but was not enacted. View source (congress.gov)

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GPS Act

BILL

The Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act seeks to establish a legal framework that gives government agencies, commercial entities, and private citizens clear guidelines for when and how geolocation information can be accessed and used.

The bill would create a process whereby government agencies can get a probable cause warrant to obtain geolocation information in the same way that they currently get warrants for wiretaps or other types of electronic surveillance.

In addition, the GPS Act would prohibit businesses from disclosing geographical tracking data about its customers to others without the customers' permission.

Bill Status

• In July 2017, Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) reintroduced the House legislation following the resignation of its previous sponsor.
• In February 2017, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) reintroduced the legislation for the 115th Congress. Their bills (S. 395 and H.R. 1062) were referred to the House and Senate judiciary committees and the House intelligence committee.

Legislative History

• Sen. Wyden and Rep. Chaffetz originally introduced the legislation during the 112th Congress, and the House judiciary committee held a hearing on it.
• The bills were reintroduced in the 113th and 114th Congresses, but saw no further movement.

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