It would be illegal to secretly track someone with a global positioning unit, albeit with some exceptions, under a measure that passed an Assembly committee today.
The plan would ban someone from putting a GPS unit on another person’s vehicle in most situations. It would also explicitly ban someone from using GPS to track their ex-spouse if they’re separated or have filed papers for divorce.
Sponsor Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, said there’s a reasonable expectation of privacy in those situations and in many others.
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“If a private citizen or a business wants to place a GPS on your car, then you need to have that knowledge,” said Neylon. “So nobody can legally, secretly record your movements and track your movements and then use it in the court or use it against you somehow and violate what I think all of us would think would be your privacy.”
People who violate the law could be fined up to $10,000 and spend up to nine months in jail.
Several groups would be exempt from the rule. It would not cover law enforcement, should officers want to use GPS for an investigation. An employer would also be allowed to use GPS to monitor vehicles that belong to them, and the bill was amended to let parents use GPS to track their children.
Nobody has registered to lobby against the plan, which passed out of an Assembly committee on a unanimous vote. It has yet to pass either house of the Legislature.
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