Senator wants privacy protections for device location

One small step in the right direction????

The U.S. needs consistent rules for how law enforcement agencies can access the ever-growing collection of location-based data from mobile devices, a U.S. senator said Wednesday.

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said he will soon introduce a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to get court-ordered warrants to get location-based information from smartphones and other mobile devices, instead of simple subpoenas or other methods without court oversight.

"If you asked most Americans, I think they would tell you that surreptitiously turning somebody's cell phone into a modern-day tracking device ... and using it to monitor their movements, 24/7, is a pretty serious intrusion into their privacy, pretty much comparable to searching their house or tapping their phone calls," Wyden said during a Cato Institute forum.

The rest of the story at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9206538/Senator_wants_privacy_protections_for_device_location?source=CTWNLE_nlt_security_2011-01-27