January 2025
YOUR LOCATION: IT’S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS
The Location Shield Act (SD501/HD2965), formally titled An Act to protect safety and privacy by stopping the sale of location data) would prohibit companies from selling, leasing, trading, or renting our location information. Every day, unregulated data brokers buy and sell personal location data from apps on our cellphones, revealing where we live, work, and play. This allows people to be individually tracked and puts all of us at risk.
Immigration
Our immigrant neighbors are especially vulnerable. Immigrants need to protect their location information to ensure their safety, avoid potential threats, and better integrate and thrive in their new communities.
Domestic Violence
Survivors of domestic violence are especially vulnerable. Survivors of domestic violence must protect their location information to ensure their safety, maintain privacy, and facilitate recovery.
Access to Abortion
In the post-Roe era, people seeking and providing access to abortion care are especially vulnerable. I am grateful that the legislature has worked tirelessly in recent years to shore up reproductive freedom protections and access in the Commonwealth, and everyone should be able to access those protections without fear that their location information can be used to track them.
Currently, no laws or regulations exist in Massachusetts to prevent companies from collecting and selling this information. Our personal safety and freedom are on the line.
We must take steps to protect people in Massachusetts from having their movement tracked so that we can live both safely and freely.
What you can do now
Ask your State legislator to co-sponsor the Location Shield Act (SD501/HD2965) and do all that you can to ensure this legislation passes this session.