A proposed New York City bill would make it illegal for cellphone companies and mobile app developers to share location data gathered while a customer’s mobile device is within the five boroughs.
The bill would restrict cellphone companies and mobile apps from sharing location data to situations where they were “providing a service explicitly requested” by the customer.
The bill provides for steep fines, ranging from $1,000 per violation to $10,000 per day per user for multiple violations, while giving customers who have had their location data shared without their explicit permission the right to sue.
A similar data privacy law has also been introduced in San Francisco, where voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 that would require companies to disclose their data practices and secure customer data to win city contracts.
This NYC bill signals a notable data protection trend: in the absence of a federal law specifically protecting consumers’ location data, cities and states have stepped up to enforce privacy regulations and location data rules.