ASSEMBLY TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND UTILITIES
COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 1544
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: DECEMBER 5, 2022
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee
reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1544 (1R).
As reported, 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. In order to obtain a customer’s consent, the
bill requires a mobile device application developer to provide notice
to the customer, which customer would be required to affirmatively
elect to allow their location data to be disclosed to a third party.
However, the bill provides that these entities would not be required to
obtain a customer’s consent before disclosing any GPS data that is
required to comply with a law or regulation, law enforcement
investigation, legal process, or court order.
Under the bill, a third party that accesses a customer’s GPS data
would also be prohibited from selling the customer’s data in any
circumstances. Additionally, the bill provides that the third party
may only disclose the customer’s GPS data as necessary to
effectuate the purpose for which the consent was given.
A commercial mobile service provider, mobile device
application developer, or third party that violates the provisions of
this bill would be deemed to violate 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 each subsequent offense.