Lawmakers Introduce Legislation for Police Warrants for GPS Tracking
26 Mar 2013Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have introduced new proposed legislation that represents a bipartisan effort that would require court-ordered search warrants before law enforcement agencies are able to obtain the mobile phone location or other GPS data of suspects.
The Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act (H.R. 1312) was introduced in the House of Representatives by Jason Chaffetz, a republican representing the state of Utah along with eight other members of Congress.
“New technologies are making it increasingly easy to track and log the location of individuals. Put simply, the government and law enforcement should not be able to track somebody indefinitely without their knowledge or consent or without obtaining a warrant from a judge,” Chaffetz said in a released statement.
Ron Wyden, a democrat representing the state of Oregon, and Mark Kirk, a republican representing the state of Illinois, introduced the bill in the Senate
“GPS technology has evolved into a useful commercial and law enforcement tool, but the rules for the use of that tool have not evolved to go along with it,” Wyden said in a statement. “The GPS Act provides law enforcement with a clear mandate for when to obtain a warrant for the geolocation information of an American. It provides much-needed legal clarity for commercial service providers who often struggle to balance the privacy of their customers with the requests for information from law enforcement,” Wyden further commented.
The legislation stems from loopholes left behind after the 2012 case, U.S. v. Jones, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police cannot physically attach GPS devices to vehicles for the purpose of tracking that vehicle without a search warrant. However, the court did not, in the course of its ruling, require warrants for other geolocation information, which could be obtained from GPS enabled smartphones or from vehicle OnStar systems.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union have all endorsed the bill, which they believe brings legislation in line with current technology.
This legislation quickly follows arguments by the federal government that warrantless GPS tracking is an essential tool in the law enforcement arsenal. They argue that requiring warrants will limit the value of information derived from GPS devices. Chaffetz uses this argument as the perfect example of why legislation is necessary saying, “This highlights the need for Congress to step in and provide clear and reasonable guidelines.”
The bill does include a few specific exceptions where GPS tracking is allowable – particularly in instances where national security is threatened and in emergency cases. It also allows parents to use GPS tracking for children.
Chaffetz attempted to pass a similar bill in the previous session of Congress, but failed to garner enough support to make it progress. This time around there is bipartisan support from a large group of cosponsors so the bill may receive better traction.
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