An Illinois bill that would require private companies to disclose when they would collect or sell mobile phone user data may be voted on in this special state legislative session.
The Geolocation Privacy Protection Act would regulate entities that want to collect location data from someone’s phone. The user would have to give consent for data to be collected.
“Illinois residents deserve to know who has access to their personal information,” said State Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, is a co-sponsor for the bill, "and geolocation tracking can tell companies where you buy your morning coffee to what bus stops your son or daughter take after school or to school. You know, this information should be private.”
State Sen. Tom Cullerton, D-Villa Park – who is also the chief Senate sponsor for the bill – says it doesn’t mean the bill would make it illegal for companies to take and use the data.
“We didn’t tell them they couldn’t do it; we didn’t tell them they couldn’t have that accessibility,” Cullerton said. “We told them they could put it right in their terms of service.”
State Rep. Keith Wheeler, R-North Aurora, initially opposed the state legislation and says it might be better as a federal law. Cullerton says he ultimately agrees.
“I would like to see this on a federal level,” Cullerton said. “I just don’t know if they’ll take it up on a federal level, and I’m not secure in the fact that they will do that. So that’s why we took it up on the state level.”
Wheeler says the question remains whether Illinois residents traveling out of state would still have those rights if the state legislation passes.
Cullerton says the bill has to go back to the House after an amendment was added. That amendment says phone users can’t sue companies for taking personal geolocation data, and all violation enforcement would have to go through the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney.
If the bill is approved, it goes to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s desk.