In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision about GPS tracking, states across the US are also weighing in on the topic.
Yesterday a bill passed in Virginia that would make it illegal to secretly install a GPS tracking system on a person’s vehicle, reported the Associated Press.
The House voted 88-10 to pass Delegate Joe May’s bill. May introduced the legislation at the request of a constituent who was shocked to discover that a private investigator hired by his estranged wife had legally installed a GPS tracking system on the undercarriage of his car.
The bill, currently on its way to the Senate, would make it illegal for anyone to use a GPS tracking system to monitor a person’s location without his or her consent. The bill carves out exemptions for police with warrants, parents tracking their kids, any legal representative of an incapacitated adult, owners of fleet vehicles and electronic communications providers such as OnStar and cell phone companies.
In New Hampshire, a similar bill recently passed. The bill also says that it should be illegal for someone to secretly place an electronic tracking system on someone’s vehicle to monitor their whereabouts.
The bill in NH did not initially have much support, until the sponsor of the bill, Neal Kurk, told the committee about a personal experience involving a jealous ex-boyfriend stalking his girlfriend with a GPS tracking device.
“He had to work too, so he couldn’t follow her everywhere. The $30 GPS tracking system that he bought online from Amazon would do it for him,” he said, “frightening? It’s not science fiction, tracking is real and its happening now.”
