Utah’s passing of House Bill 57 received the unanimous support of legislators who are concerned about privacy infractions related to geofencing. Before law enforcement can attempt to gather a wide swath of electronic information within a targeted area, HB 57 demands the police obtain a warrant and adhere to established reporting protocols. As Tenth Amendment Center reports, the action in Utah is intended to push back against the government’s rights to conduct surveillance on its citizens.
Geofencing uses GPS and related technologies to set up digital perimeters that can track the electronic activity of those operating within the defined area. A parent, for example, could use the technology to follow the location of a child’s phone. The concern expressed in Utah is that without setting limitations, the police could potentially cast a wide net and follow all private communications in an attempt to zero in on any suspicious activity within the targeted area.
HB 57 requires that warrants must be obtained prior to an attempt to essentially wire tap a geographic region rather than just one phone line. The bill favors transparency both before and after such a search is conducted, holding law enforcement to measurable standards. The proposed guidelines would require the police to report the number of reverse-location warrants both requested and granted. It would log the number of investigations that used data gathered, as well as any “special exceptions” obtained during the course of an investigation.
Rep. Ryan Wilcox (R) and Sen. Todd Weiler (R) authored HB 57, which will now advance to the Utah State Senate for further consideration.
Reader Interactions