FTC Testifies To Congress On Proposed Senate Geolocation Data Privacy Bill

Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee for Privacy, Technology and the Law about proposed Senate Bill 2171, "The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2014 (LPPA)." The Act would prohibit companies from collecting or disclosing geolocation information from electronic communications devices without users' consent. The Act would also (1) prevent companies from collecting location data in secret; (2) require companies that collect location data of 1,000 or more devices to post online the kinds of data they collect, how they share and use it, and how people can opt out of such data collection; (3) ban the development, operation, and sale of GPS stalking apps; and (4) require the federal government to gather more information about and facilitate reporting of GPS stalking.