ASSEMBLY CONSUMER AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 1544
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 2, 2022
The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee reports favorably and
with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 1544.
As amended and reported by the committee, this bill prohibits
commercial mobile service providers and mobile device application
developers from disclosing a customer’s global positioning system
(GPS) data to a third party, unless the customer has given consent for
the third party to access the customer’s GPS data. The bill defines
“third party” to mean an individual, proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, association, or other legal entity that may knowingly or
willfully disclose a customer’s GPS data. The amended bill defines
“mobile device application developer” to mean any person,
including corporate affiliates, that stores or processes a customer’s
GPS data collected by a mobile device application. Furthermore,
mobile device application developers are required to provide a
consent notice to customers permitting the developer to disclose the
customer’s GPS data to a third party.
The provisions of the bill require a third party that accesses a
customer’s GPS data, pursuant to the bill, to not sell the GPS data in
any case, and is to disclose the GPS data only as necessary to
effectuate the purpose for which consent was given.
The provisions of the bill are not to apply to a commercial mobile
service provider, mobile device application developer, or a third party
required to disclose a customer’s GPS data to comply with applicable
federal or State law, regulation, law enforcement investigation, legal
process, or court order.
The bill provides that a violation of its requirements is a
violation of the State’s consumer fraud act, which may result in a
penalty of not more than $10,000 for the first offense and not more
than $20,000 for the second and each subsequent offense.
This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2022-2023 session
pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes
required by technical review, which has been performed.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to: 2
(1) change the definition of “customer” and “global positioning
system data,” under the bill;
(2) add definition of “mobile device application,” “mobile device
application developer,” and “person”;
(3) require mobile device application provider to provide a consent
notice to access the customer’s GPS data.