Committee Examines Use of GPS

The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing today on HR 2168, the "Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act".  The legislation would essentially ban the private use of GPS devices.  It would permit the use of technology that reveals an individual's location for law enforcement if police had obtained a warrant.

Virtually all of the discussion during the hearing dealt with the bill's effect on the police ability to obtain the location of individuals.  Witnesses from the Federal Law Enforcement Association and National District Attorneys Association expressed concern that the warrant provision made it too difficult for police to obtain information in many instances.  A great deal of focus was on the ability to obtain location information through cellular phone records.

A witness from the Computer & Communications Industry Association supported the restrictive legislation.  His concern was to minimize any privacy concerns by cell phone users.  The American Civil Liberties witness strongly supported the legislation

NCISS is strongly opposed to HR 2168 because it would deny private investigators the ability to use GPS tracking devices.  Our opposition was most recently made clear during the annual "Hit the Hill" meetings with Congress.  Similar legislation is pending in the Senate, S 1212.

Congressional interest in the issue follows a recent US Supreme Court decision, US v. Jones, which ruled that police must obtain a warrant prior to attaching a GPS unit to an automobile.

The NCISS Legislative Committee will continue to monitor the progress of all GPS tracking related legislation and keep the profession apprised of our efforts to maintain our usage of GPS devices for lawful purposes.

Keeping the profession informed,

Jimmie Mesis, LPI  

NCISS Legislative Chairman

Larry Sabbath

Legislative Advocate

NCISS

7501 Sparrows Point Boulevard

Baltimore, Maryland 21219-1927

T-(800) 445-8408  F-(410) 388-9746

jim@nciss.org     

lsabbath@lobbyist4u.com

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