New York bill would ban sale of geo-location data

New York — A bill to ban the sale of cellphone users’ geo-location data to marketers was presented for debate to the New York City Council on Tuesday, and if it is approved it would make the city the first municipality in the world to implement such a measure.

Among its elements, the draft bill “would prohibit telecommunications carriers and mobile applications from sharing a user’s location data with another person, if the location is within New York City.”

The bill would also prohibit anybody receiving such location data “from sharing it with another person,” with the penalty for violating the provision being $1,000 per violation, or $10,000 per day per person “whose location data was unlawfully shared.”

The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications would be responsible for enforcing the ban, and the bill “would also create a private right of action against telecommunications carriers and mobile application develops who violate this prohibition.”

Many companies who develop apps for mobile devices share or sell users’ personal data, including location data, with other firms, usually for marketing purposes, and this practice often represents the main source of income from apps that are otherwise offered free - or nearly so - to users.

The bill would not replace other laws that protect consumers from having their personal data distributed without their consent.

Councilor Justin Brannan said in a communique that users’ data often ends up in the hands of multiple firms, who use and market it in various ways.

He called that practice “Big Brother” business and said that he had not negotiated the language in the bill with business leaders in charge of the apps.

Nevertheless, the ban on sharing user data with third parties would not be total, since it would include certain exceptions, like emergency services and information needed for court cases or as otherwise required by existing law, as well as uses of the data authorized by users.

Debate and discussion within the City Council on the bill has been noted by Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris, who has asked the US Congress to pass a law prohibiting the sale of location data.