TO:                      Members of the New Jersey General Assembly  

FROM:               Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs, CCSNJ

RE:                      A-2340/A-2489 (Moriarty/Quijano/Vainieri Huttle)

DATE:                 March 25, 2021

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) would like to respectfully oppose A-2340/A-2489 (Moriarty/Quijano/Vainieri Huttle), which prohibits commercial mobile service providers from disclosing customer's geolocation data to third parties.

As written, this bill prohibits a commercial mobile service provider that provides these services from disclosing the customer’s geolocation data to a third party, unless the customer has given consent to that effect.

Although well-intentioned, rather than protect the consumer this bill will lead to confusing scenarios and could prevent certain customer safety procedures. The CCSNJ believes that this issue is best handled through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which provides uniform protections for all data and for consumers across the country.

Additionally, since this legislation targets only geolocation data, it has the potential to be confusing for consumers because data travels across state boundaries when consumers do. As written, it is unclear whether this bill applies to GPS applications, therefore creating a situation in which everyone entering New Jersey would have to opt-in, affecting the many New Jersey commuters who work out of state.

A-2340/A-2489 (Moriarty/Quijano/Vainieri Huttle) also creates ambiguity around whether commercial mobile service providers may transmit geolocation data to other service providers or use it to flag fraudulent transactions without obtaining opt-in consent. As fraudulent activity is more frequent and common than ever, this is another critical concern with the legislation, as currently written.

For these reasons, the CCSNJ respectfully request you vote no on A-2340/A-2489 (Moriarty/Quijano/Vainieri Huttle).