Consumer Reports, along with a coalition of privacy and consumer groups, strongly support of S.B. 1023, legislation that would ban the sale of consumers’ precise geolocation information. Geolocation can be incredibly useful for pro-consumer applications such as turn-by-turn directions and finding a nearby restaurant; however, all too often this information is secretly collected and shared by dozens if not hundreds of ad networks and data brokers with whom consumers have no relationship or even awareness.
This bill will provide straightforward, powerful, and critically important protections for the privacy, autonomy, and physical safety of Virginians while still giving advertisers plenty of leeway to advertise.
Some harms from the sale of precise geolocation information include:
- Scamming, stalking, and spying;
- Predatory use of consumer data; and
- Enhanced risks of data breaches.
To read more, please see the attached PDF.