Sen. Franken Introduces Bill To Keep Your Location Safe

[MacRumors]

After hearing from Apple, Google, and others last month, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) today introduced The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011, a new bill that would require companies to take better care of user location information on mobile devices:

<strong>The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011 </strong>is a narrowly-tailored bill that would close current loopholes in federal law to require any company that may obtain a customer’s location information from his or her smartphone or other mobile device to (1) get that customer’s express consent before collecting his or her location data; and (2) get that customer’s express consent before sharing his or her location data with third parties. If any company obtains the location information for more than 5,000 mobile devices, that company will also have to (3) take reasonable steps to protect that information from reasonably foreseeable threats; (4) tell an inquiring customer whether or not they have his or her information, and (5) delete that information if that customer so requests it.

The Senator "concluded that our laws do too little to protect information on our mobile devices" and noted that "this legislation would give people the right to know what geolocation data is being collected about them and ensure they give their consent before it’s shared with others.”

Just a few weeks ago, Senator Franken sent a letter to Apple and Google, requesting that both companies require app developers to have "clear and understandable privacy policies".

It would appear that Apple is already in compliance with sections 1 through 3, and presumably sections 4 and 5 are fairly easy to implement. iOS apps are already required to ask users for permission to use their location data and iOS devices display an icon in the top bar to indicate when location data is being used.

Repeated attempts by MacRumors to obtain the full text of the bill through Senator Franken's office were unsuccessful, though a one-page summary [PDF] is available.

This isn't the first time Congress has attempted to regular location information on mobile devices. A similar bill was introduced in 2001 by then-Senator John Edwards (D-NC). In fact, the bill had an identical title, The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2001.

That bill would have ordered the FCC to require providers of location-based services to:

(1) inform customers about their policies on the collection, use, disclosure of, and access to customer location information; and (2) receive a customer's express authorization before collecting, using, retaining, or disclosing such information.

The Edwards bill died in committee.

Article Link: Sen. Franken Introduces Bill To Keep Your Location Safe

 

[chrmjenkins]

Ah yes, the government will happily protect our location data from those mean corporations while in the same breath renewing the Patriot Act which allows them to skirt the entire Constitution when it comes to privacy.

 

[Illusion986]

Just another "Agree" button I'll have to push without reading what I'm agreeing to...

 

[rikscha]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Ah yes, the government will happily protect our location data from those mean corporations while in the same breath renewing the Patriot Act which allows them to skirt the entire Constitution when it comes to privacy.

I'm not travelling to the US because they can basically copy everything off your phone, laptop etc without stating any real reasons. Most companies advise their employees not to carry any such devices when travelling to the US. Needed data etc is simply downloaded or transferred over the web

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Question:

How is a company able to comply with 4 & 5 if all the location data they collect is completely anonymous?

 

[iTim314]

Ah yes, the government will happily protect our location data from those mean corporations while in the same breath renewing the Patriot Act which allows them to skirt the entire Constitution when it comes to privacy.

Best. Comment. Ever.

 

[ratzzo]

While this is definitely a step forward in the right direction, I'm sure carriers have other tricks up their sleeves. Without much thought, they could just force you to agree to some of these intruding data mining if you ever want to use a feature (ie. blocked until access is granted). The whole privacy and intimacy issue is a tough mess to unravel.

 

[thatisme]

<sarcasm> oh, yay! </sarcasm>

So glad that Stuart Smally is hard at work on our budget issues... anonymous GPS information is a much more important issue to tackle.

 

[rdowns]

Ah yes, the government will happily protect our location data from those mean corporations while in the same breath renewing the Patriot Act which allows them to skirt the entire Constitution when it comes to privacy.

Hey, I came here to say that. Well done, sir.

 

[GSPice]

Ah yes, the government will happily protect our location data from those mean corporations while in the same breath renewing the Patriot Act which allows them to skirt the entire Constitution when it comes to privacy.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)



I'm not travelling to the US because they can basically copy everything off your phone, laptop etc without stating any real reasons. Most companies advise their employees not to carry any such devices when travelling to the US. Needed data etc is simply downloaded or transferred over the web

And in other news, foil stock jumps 7.6%

 

[TeamMojo]

Seriously? Having solved all other problems and dealt with Trillions in debt and deficit, the US Senate can now worry about Mobile Phone location information. This has to be a joke. After all, Franken is a comedian.

 

[beangibbs]

**** that.

If senators can make laws that keep our privacy safe, they can make laws that let them invade it.
Like the Patriot Act, which isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Senators need to keep away from our apps, app stores and mobile devices...in every way possible.

 

[Optheduim]

Omfg

Ugh If you're a Franken Constituent please don't vote him again. I'd rather Apple, Google, Facebook, Verizon, AT&T, and Nestle-Tollhouse know my habits, where I go/where i shop/where I sleep/and what I do over my government.

Companies want us to use their crap. And the (our?) Government wants everything we are.

I'd rather pay taxes to apple... at least they'll give us something that works won't steal out of our pockets... and if its broken (MobileMe) they will actually fix it (iCloud)...

How 'bout them 's??

 

[jonnysods]

That's great, but who will police the police? </paranoia>

 

[nagromme]

Step 4 would be very easy. “No” And that solves Step 5 too!

Ugh If you're a Franken Constituent please don't vote him again. I'd rather Apple, Google, Facebook, Verizon, AT&T, and Nestle-Tollhouse know my habits, where I go/where i shop/where I sleep/and what I do over my government.

I can’t help but think there isn’t really as much separation as you think, between our government and the deep-pocketed corporations that pull its strings.

 

[caspersoong]

I wonder how this affects companies outside the U.S.

 

[Mak47]

Can we have a consent button to give the government approval to access our location info? It's already required by law that they can and they're far less trustworthy than these companies.

At least the Apples and Googles of the world can be kept in line by refusing to give them our money if/when they cross the line. Franken and the rest of the good-for-nothings in congress just get to take it at will.

I wonder if this will apply to the DHS apps, they're third parties aren't they?

 

[twojtyniak]

Worst thing ever?

While I understand and share the concerns about the Patriot Act, do the other complainers think it is a BAD idea to have an opt in on this?

And do they really think that NOTHING else should be done except "work" on "fixing" the economy? Any specific, detailed, implementable suggestions on what to do?

This kind of "do exactly what I want or I want you recalled" approach to government is part of what makes it so broken, IMO.

 

[iScott428]

God what a waste of time. Damn all of you politians for throwing my tax dollar down the drain on a useless law like this one! I am so sick of the goverment trying to always help people that can not help them selves. Remember in school there were posters on the classroom walls with clever sayings like Silence is Golden, and Sharing is Caring...well they should plaster "Less government is more government!" All over the place!!

 

[*LTD*]

delete.

 

[*LTD*]

There was never a problem to begin with, Al.

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I'm not travelling to the US because they can basically copy everything off your phone, laptop etc without stating any real reasons. Most companies advise their employees not to carry any such devices when travelling to the US. Needed data etc is simply downloaded or transferred over the web

Who is "they"? And why would "they" care about your crap?

What do you have on your devices that is so incriminating?

E-mails from grandma? Your drunk pics from New Year's?

 

[tbrinkma]

Question:

How is a company able to comply with 4 & 5 if all the location data they collect is completely anonymous?

That's the trick. The gov't doesn't really have a problem with companies collecting the information. They just want to make sure it is reliably mapped to an individual so they can subpoena it at some point.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Excellent!

Thanks you Senator Franken!

 

[Kuges]

Who is "they"? And why would "they" care about your crap?

Last couple of years this has been somehow flying almost completely under the radar. I see it pop up a couple of times a year, but it never really seems to get MSM's attention.

http://www.pennjcl.com/issues/12/12.3 851 Flipse.pdf

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10004646-38.html

This is "they". Also the same people that ordered the TSA to start feeling everyone up at the airports.

 

[RussOniPhone]

<sarcasm> oh, yay! </sarcasm>

So glad that Stuart Smally is hard at work on our budget issues... anonymous GPS information is a much more important issue to tackle.

He is trying to protect himself from getting caught like Sen Weiner, bet he owns an iPhone. This Sen Smaily needs to be concentrating on the mess they got us into with the economy.