California’s Proposed Location Privacy Act: A Potential Game-Changer for Tracking Location of Individuals
Businesses that track the geolocation of individuals—whether for fleet management, sales and promotion, logistics, risk mitigation, or other reasons—should closely monitor the progress of California Assembly Bill 1355 (AB 1355), also known as the California Location Privacy Act . If passed, this bill would impose significant restrictions on the collection and use of geolocation data, requiring many businesses to overhaul their location tracking policies and procedures. California has long been at the forefront of data privacy regulation, particularly in the area of location tracking. Section 637.7 of the California Penal Code, for example, provides that no person or entity in California may use an electronic tracking device to determine the location or movement of a person. Notably the law does not apply when the registered owner, lessor, or lessee of a vehicle has consented to the use such a device with respect to that vehicle . More recently, the Ca...