On Wednesday, SB 1434, a bill sponsored by Democratic Senator Mark Leno, passed the Assembly and makes its way to the desk of Governor Jerry Brown.
If he signs, California will be the first state to pass a law requiring law enforcement to secure a warrant before using location data from smartphones and other GPS enabled devices.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are co-sponsors of the California legislation. Computerworld reported that warrentless tracking was widespread:
Earlier this year the ACLU obtained more than 5,500 pages of internal documents from some 200 local law enforcement departments detailing their cell phone tracking practices.
All but 10 of the departments studied were found to have tracked cell phones, some of then quite frequently. Many of the departments said they obtained tracking data from phone companies without obtaining a warrant, the ACLU said.
Read the rest of the story: California Assembly OKs bill banning warrantless smartphone tracking