Proposed bill would equate GPS tracking, wiretapping

Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) will introduce the Geolocational Surveillance and Privacy Act which would prohibit police and federal law enforcement from tracking citizens' location through cellphones, GPS devices and other electronic items without first getting a warrant. Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.

The bill also would impose criminal penalties on individuals who use GPS devices to surreptitiously track a person's movements. The bill also would prohibit cellphone companies and other providers of trackable devices from sharing customers' past or present location information without their clear consent. The legislation would apply to U.S. citizens' location information even when they're outside the United States and pertain equally to past and present location information, according to the draft bill.