Loan debt. It announced a measure late in the week that democrats plan a student loan push in june. What are they proposing to do . This is a way to lower the Interest Rates on student loans. What is interesting about this you have to look at everything especially that the senate is doing this year as an electionyear push. Democrats found the student loan push helpful when they took recontrol of the senate. They have done it repeatedly. It is an issue not only with young people but with families who are being squeezed because of the higher cost of living and higher expenses. It gets a lot of attention, but i would not expect this to clear the house anytime soon. They seemed to lay down the gauntlet to challenge republicans in the senate to support the bill, but so far nobody on the republican side is backing that. Right. Lets take a look at the house. Eric cantor releasing his memo, telling members what ahead for june. What are some of the top items we should look for as the house comes back . The veterans legislation is a top priority. They have been home for recess for two weeks. They are here for three weeks. They wanted to meet with their constituents who were worried about this. They are seeing pretty negative headlines back home across the country. They really care about this. In addition, they have a spending bill they will be taking a look at, and then figuring out how they will deal with the highway trust fund, essentially to be able to pay for it, they are going to have to cut Something Else. The proposal is to slash saturday postal delivery. That is something we are going to see in these three weeks. What was not in the memo was a little more interesting to me. Top of the list immigration reform. You see a huge push on is not just from democrats. You see republicans say we should be taking a look at this. You see them saying everything is on track for something to happen this summer. That is not looking all that promising, wasnt even mentioned. In addition to that, the Unemployment Insurance extension passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. We have been covering that very closely. That hardly got any attention at all. House leaders have said they do not care about that issue. Exports as well. One issue we are certain to hear more about is the release of Sergeant Bowe bergdahl. The chairman of the House Armed Services committee holding a hearing about that, and the headline what are they hoping to do it this upcoming hearing . It has been really interesting looking at this politically. Republicans have been able to capture Foreign Policy as their issue as the health care legislation, the president s signature domestic achievement, has been doing a little better in the rollout in recent months. So, they are focused on benghazi and now bergdahl. There are a lot of questions raised. Senators were very frustrated. They told roll call reporters as they left a private briefing that they did not feel the administration was giving them forthcoming answers. Senator mark kirk from illinois said he asked if the sergeant was a deserter and was told we will get back to you on that. While the president has been out of town doing the dday celebration in normandy, youre going to see a lot more focus on this and i expect a lot more criticism from republicans who are not happy about the entire deal. You can read more at rollcall. Com and follow her on twitter. Thanks for being with us. Thank you. Tonight, we will be taking a look at the Republican Senate candidates debate from south carolina. Six candidates trying to unseat the incumbent, lindsey graham. You can watch the debate tonight at 9 00 eastern time. Tomorrow morning, we will talk about the current primary season and the fight for the control of the senate in the general elections this november with jennifer duffy. Then, Washington Bureau chief of lumbar news will discuss Hillary Clintons newman mr, and the rosenberglds carol will discuss the status of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in light of the recent release of five detainees last weekend. We will also take comments by phone, facebook, and twitter live tomorrow morning at 7 00 eastern on cspan. Book sundays at eight includes journalist tchen morgan sent morgensen. Sheet it on the balance and make it clear and make it evident and make everybody aware of how much it is costing, but when you deliver it through these thirdparty enterprises, fannie mae and freddie mac, and you deliver a subsidy through Public Companies with private shareholders and executives who can extract a lot of that subsidy for themselves, that is not a very good way of subsidizing homeownership. Read more of our conversation with Gretchen Morgenson and iner featured interviews cspans sundays at eight, now available for a fathers day gift at your ebert took seller. Favorite bookseller. The chair of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy held a hearing with witnesses from the Justice Department and the federal trade commission. The hearing is two hours. Called hearing will be to order. Welcome to the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology, and the law. This is a hearing on a bill to protect sensitive Location Information, a Privacy Protection act of 2014. Information, a Privacy Protection act of 2014. Three years ago, i held a laws were protecting Location Information generated by smart phones, cell phones, and tablets. The first group that i heard from was the Minnesota Coalition for battered women. They told me that across minnesota, victims were being followed through socalled appsng apps stalking specifically designed to help the stalkers track their victims. Let me read you some from their website. Here is one. It says, most of the time you think your spouse is being unfaithful to my youre right. Spyera will be your spy in their pocket. You will need to sneak your spouses phone and download it to their phone. After the software is downloaded, youll be able to see where they are geographically. If your husband is two counties over from where you live, spyera. L tell you that and of course, husband could be wife, or whatever you want to put in there. Flexis another one from spy. It gives you total control of your partners for without them knowing it. See exactly where they are, or were, at any given date and time. Here is another that has since been taken down. Worried about your spouse cheating . Track every text, every call, every move they make using our easy cell phone spy software. Onlinepps can be found in minutes and abusers find them and use them to stop stalk thousands of women across the country. Association for battered women cited a woman who was a victim of violence by one of these stocking apps stalking apps. She decided to get help and went to a county building. She got to the building and within five minutes she got a text from her abuser asking her why she was in the county building. , and son was terrified an advocate took her to a courthouse the courthouse to get a restraining order. As soon as she filed for the order, she got a second text from her abuser asking why she was at the county courthouse and whether she was getting a restraining order against him. They later figured out that she was being tracked through a appsing stalking through her phone. This is not just happen in minnesota. Nationally, it was found that 72 of Victim Services programs across the country had seen victims who were tracked through a stalking cap or standalone gps device. Objection, i will add to the record the accounts of a few other victims. Here is one from a victim in illinois. She was living in kansas with her abuser. She fled to elgin, illinois, a town three states away. She did not know the whole time her cell phone was transmitting her precise location to her abuser. Elginve the 700 miles to and tractor to a shelter and he tracked her to a shelter and assaulted her and tried to strangle her. Here is one from scottsdale, arizona. A woman and her husband were going through a divorce. Her husband tractor for over a month through her cell phone. Eventually, he he murdered their two children in a rage. These cases, the perpetrator was arrested because someone. Egal to stalk but it is not clearly illegal to market and to sell a stalking a pp. Nothing happened to the Companies Making money off of the stalking. Nothing happened to the stalking apps. My bill would shut down these apps once and for all those up it would clearly prohibit making, running, and selling apps and other devices designed to help stalkers track their victims. It would help Police Seized the money that is used by these companies to actually prevent stalking. My bill will prioritize grant to the organizations that train and raise awareness around these apps. And it will help the department of justice get up to speed on the latest statistics with stalking. That is a big deal because the latest statistics we have from the doj are from 2006. And at that point, they estimated over 25,000 people were being gps stalked annually, back in 2006. We know what Smart Phone Technology has done since then. Preventdoes not just victims of stalking. It prevents anyone who uses a smart phone or any mobile device connected to the internet. It makes sure that if a Company Wants to get your location or give it out to others, they need to get your permission first. I think that we all have a fundamental right to privacy, a right to control who gets your Sensitive Information, and with whom they share it. Someone who has the record of your location does not just know where you live, know where you were, where you drop your kids off at school, what church you attend, and what doctors you visit. Isation information extremely sensitive, but it is not being protected the way it should be. In 2010, the wall street journal found that half of the most popular apps were collecting their users Location Information and sending it to third parties, usually without permission. Since then, some of the most popular apps in the country have been found disclosing their users precise location to third parties without permission. And it is not just apps. The nissan lease on board commuter was found sending drivers locations to thirdparty onstaron store even after they canceled their service. They only stopped when i and other senators call them out on this. And a whole industry has grown up around tracking the movements of people going shopping without their permission, and sometimes when they do not even enter a store. The fact is, most of this is totally legal with only a few exceptions if a company gets your Location Information over the internet, then they are free to give it to almost anyone they want. My bill closes the loopholes. If a Company Wants to share your location, it has to get your permission first and put up a post online what the company is doing with your data. Once the company is tracking you, it has to be transparent or else has to send you a reminder that you are being tracked. Those requirements apply only to Company Getting your location of your device. All they have to do is put up a post explaining online what they are doing with their data. That is it. These rules are built on existing industry best practices , and they have exceptions for emergencies, theft prevention, and parents tracking their kids. The bill is backed by the leading antiDomestic Violence and consumer groups. Without objection, i will add letters for the record from the minnesota antidramatic views antidomestic abuse coalition, and other supporters of my bill. This bill is just common sense. Before i turn it over to my friend, the Ranking Member, i want to make one thing clear. Locationbased services are terrific. I use them all the time. When i drive across minnesota, they save time and money and they save lives. 99 of companies that get your Location Information are good, legitimate companies. I have already taken into account many of the industrys concerns i heard when we debated this bill in the last congress. I have cap liability. I have made complaints easier. And if folks still have issues with the bill, i want to address them. With that, i will turn it over to senator flank. But thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you again to the witnesses for being here. I know you have busy schedules and i appreciate you doing this. I think we can all agree that stalking and Domestic Violence are serious concerns and that is why i was happy to support the reauthorization of the violence against women act. Today, like most of us that Domestic Violence and stalking our Serious Problems that need to be addressed. Im not away aware of any concerns that have been expressed about certain sections of the bill. Those that address the stalking the and those that address government to study gps stalking educate lawo enforcement about this problem. Having said that, there are sections of the bill that i think are still a bit concerning. The bill before us regulates the commercial rock commercial collection of geolocation and concerns have been raised about businesses that use geoLocation Information to provide consumers with services they now rely on. I would like to enter into the record now letters from the National Retail federation and the advertisement bureau if that is ok. But without objection. Without objection. In our effort to reject the privacy of effort to protect the privacy of americans, we have to make sure that we do not affect the economy in our over that. We want to make sure that we do not hamper develop and of new products and technologies. With that, i look forward to the witnesses. Thank you. Flake. K you, senator witnessespanel of have seated themselves. Thank you. B hansen is the principal director Deputy Director of the department of Justice Office on violence against women. Before joining the ob w, miss hansen was the director for services and chief officer for safer writing, a safe inizon, and she was raised st. Paul, minnesota. Jessica rich is the acting director of the girl of Consumer Protection. During her time, she has led major policy initiatives elated to Data Security and emerging technologies, and overseeing Enforcement Actions and developed significant ftc rules. She has also received the chairmans award in 2011 for her contributions to the ftcs mission. Mark goldstein is the director of physical infrastructure issues for the u. S. Government accountability office. He is a frequent witness for congress and served as senior staff member for the Senate Committee on homeland affairs. He testified about two different studies at gao conducted a at my the subject of Location Privacy. I would like to welcome you all. Thank you for appearing. Your written testimony will be made part of the record. You each have five minutes for anyone opening remarks you would like to make. We will start with miss hansen. Much and goodo afternoon, chairman franken, Ranking Member flake, and mentors of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to andify regarding stalking location devices and privacy. I am the Deputy Director of the United States department of Justice Office on violence against women, or ob w. One key way that the department of justice has focused on strengthening the apartment of justices respond just ass response to violence against women, we have made significant strides in enhancing the response to stalking. Congress has been a Strong Partner with us to address this issue. Amended94, congress has to understand issues with this crime and broadening the stalking statute to protect victims of cyber stalking and enhancing penalties for repeat offenders. Recentst year in a most reauthorization, congress closed a loophole in a federal cyber stalking statute to permit federal prosecutors to pursue cases where the offender and the victim both lived in the same state. Congress also amended the jane cleary Campus Security act to require that universities report Crime Statistics on incidents of stalking. As you both know, stalking is a complex crime and continues to be misunderstood and very much underestimated. Incidents of stalking behavior when considered separately may seem relatively innocuous. However, stalking behavior tends to escalate over time and is often paired with or followed by Sexual Assault, physical abuse, or homicide, as chairman franken has pointed out. Feel isolated, vulnerable, and frightened, and tend to suffer from anxiety, depression, and insomnia. 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence survey, which was released by the cdc in late 2011 demonstrate the grave scope of this crime. Using a conservative definition of stalking, the survey found that 6. 6 Million People were in the prioralked 12 month time frame and found that one in six women and one and 19 men were stopped at some point in their lifetime. At some pointd in their lifetime. Thene can be a victim, but survey found that females were three times more likely to be victims than males and young adults had a higher correlation. There was also a nexus between stalking and partner abuse. The overwhelming geordie of victims for the overwhelming majority of victims, the stalker. S someone known to them and the report confirms that most stalking cases involve some form of technology. More than three quarters of the victims involved unwanted phone calls, voice, and Text Messages, and more than one third of the victims were watched, followed, or tracked with a listening or other kind of device. The report authors noted that their findings showed a higher percentage of findings than their previous studies and hypothesized that the increased could be due to technologies that made stalking easier. Technology provides tools for stalkers, for example, the rapid increase in the use of cell phones in recent years has created Malicious Software that when installed on mobile devices victimsem to track movements and medications without consent. They can read their Text Messages and emails, listen to their telephone calls, traced their movements, and turn on the microphone in their phone to record conversations occurring in the immediate surrounding area and all of this can be done remotely and surreptitiously. A recent study conducted by the National Network to end domestic thatnce further suggests Technology Enhanced stalking including on the use of mobile devices is neither novel nor rare. Services victims agencies that responded, 72 responded having victims that have been tracked using their cell phone or gps device. The finding from this visit or other surveys underscores how critical it is that professionals who work with stalking victims understand the dynamics of stalking, particularly how stalkers use ethnology. It is often a precursor to other forms of violence, because stalking can be challenges challenging for police and prosecutors and others to ensure the comprehensive services are available to victims. There are also a number of training and Technical Assistance projects that target the intersection of technology and the crime of stalking, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, dating violence, and there is more information on that in my written testimony. Granteesome of our that will be talking in the second panel. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today and i look forward to continue being continuing to work with congress on these important issues. Thank you. Thank you, miss hansen. Miss rich . Good afternoon, chairman franken and Ranking Member flake. My name is jessica rich and im the director of the bureau of Consumer Protection at the ftc. I very much appreciate the opportunity to present the testimony on Consumer Protection involving geolocation and to offer some initial views on the draft of the Privacy Protection cap act. Protecting consumers privacy is a key focus of our effort and we commend the committee for focus on this issue. Products and services that use geolocation data make consumers lives easier and more efficient, as you noted, chairman franken. Get turn by turn directions to their destinations, find the closest bank might check the weather when they are traveling, among many other examples. At the same time, increasing collection, use, and disclosure of data present serious privacy concerns. For this reason, the commission considers precise geolocation data to be sensitive, warranting optin consent prior to collection from a consumers mobile device. Why is this data so sensitive . Canvices geolocation present a consumers movement in real time and overtime and involves intimate personal details about them, such as a doctors visit, how often they go , their place of worship, and when and what route theyre kids walk to school in the morning and return home in the afternoon. This data can be accessed and used in many ways consumers dont expect. For example, collected for stopping apps, sold to third parties for unverified uses, paired with other data to build a profile of consumer activities, or stolen by your by hackers. Actionmission has taken to protect this data through Law Enforcement and outreach efforts. Using its authority under the ftc act, the commission has brought cases against Companies Engaged in unfair and deceptive practices involving geolocation data. One example is a recent settlement with snap chat, the Development Developer of a popular mobile messaging app. In that case, the s the ftc alleged that in addition to photo and video messaging that would disappear, which was publicized most in that case, snap chat also collected entrance and the geolocation data from its cap i might even though from its privacy from its app, even though from its Privacy Policy it said it did not collect this information at all. In another case, this one involving a developer of a popular flashlight app, the ftc alleged that the developer would tell users it would collect diagnostic and Technical Information simply for product support, but failed to support that to disclose that it transmitted precise location and unique dice id to the ad networks. Finally, in a series of retailer andith a its affiliates, the ftc led investigation led to insulation of Software Installation of software on networks that could log keystrokes and use the users webcam, all unknown to the users. And there was Location Software on the rented computers without the users consent, and disclosing the location to rent to own stores was unfair and illegal. In addition to enforcement, the commission has also conducted studies, held workshops, and issued reports in this area. In 2012, the fcc ftc staff issued two reports regarding mobile apps for kids. The report showed that apps collected data from the kids devices, including unique device idea and geoLocation Information and shared it with 30 third parties, often unknown to parents. And we should a report providing specific recommendations for writing how all players providing for how all players in the ecosystem can and must ensure that consumers have timely and easy to understand disclosure information and choices about what data to allow to be collected and used. Turning to a discussion of the Location Privacy act, the commission very much support the goals of this bill, which seeks to improve the transparency and consumer control over the oflection and sensitive use geolocation data. Forward,wants to step notably providing clear and accurate consent before the information is collected. The bill contains civil and criminal consequences. Strong much support remedies for violations. However, as leading enforcement agency, we do recommend that the commission be given responsibility for enforcing the civil provisions of the bill. Thank you very much for this opportunity to provide information. The ftc is very committed to prove to protecting Consumer Privacy and we look forward to continuing to work with the committee on this issue. Thank you. I noted your recommendation and your written testimony just now. Mr. Goldstein. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Smartphones and in car Navigation Systems give consumers access to locationbased services. He actually sounded very good. [laughter] im sorry you were interrupted. [laughter] canuestions about privacy arise as Companies Use or share consumer location data without their knowledge. Several agencies have responsibilities to address privacy issues, including the ftc. And the tia ntia, which advises the president. Companies use and sharing consumers location data, consumers Location Privacy risks, and actions taken by selected companies and federal agencies to protect privacy. 14 mobile Industry Companies and ,0 in car navigation providers including mobile carriers and auto manufacturers, collect location data and users share them. Applicationers and developers use location data to provide social Networking Services that are linked to locations. In Car Navigation Services use location data to provide services. Be used data can also and shared to enhance the functionality of services, such as search engines, to make search results more relevant. Consumers can benefit from locationbased services, their privacy may be at risk when Companies Collect and Share Location data. In both our reports, we found that when consumers are unaware ,hat location data is shared they may be unable to judge third parties. Can create detailed profiles of individual behavior, including habits, preferences, and roots traveled. Routes traveled. Consumers could be at higher risk of Identity Theft or threats to personal safety. Companies can anonymize location data they use or share by personally identifying information. However, in our 2013 report, in car navigation providers used different identification methods that may lead to varying levels of protection for consumers. Have notcompanies consistently implemented practices to protect consumer Location Privacy. The companies have taken some steps to align with practices. All of the companies we examined in both reports used privacy policies or other disclosures to inform consumers about the collection location data and other information. Companies did not consistently are clearly disclose to consumers what the companies do with the data or third parties. Leaving consumers unable to judge whether such uses of their location data might violate their privacy. Found the2 report, we agencies have taken steps to address privacy data through Educational Outreach events to protect Consumer Privacy. The department of commerce ntia has brought stakeholders together to develop codes of conduct. Making it unclear whether the effort would actually address Location Privacy. Issued guidance and 2013 to inform companies of the commissions views on the appropriate actions company should take to disclose privacy practice. They made recommendations to enhance Consumer Protections in 2012. Gao recommends that ntia recommend develop measures. Gao will continue to monitor this effort in the future. Goldstein. U, mr. Rich,ansen and this youre a miss rich, your agencies of already done important work. To challenge you to do more. I want to press you to investigate and shut down the alking apps. T they market themselves brazenly to stalkers. Theyre easily available on the internet. Give you more tools to go after these guys. Will you pledge to me today that you will use all of your existing tools to investigate and shut down these apps . [inaudible] yes. I will. Ithin my powers we do have a commission that does need to approve things. Apiecebring a key against a Similar Service called remote sky. Providing this very same type of service to spy on people and we obtained a strong order against the company and we can use similar tools to pursue these types of stalking apps. My role of the office of on violence against women, we are a grant funded organization, we really want to work with you to address these issues. This has been a big priority for the department. I would like to bring this back to those folks who do the prosecution. The computer crime and intellectual property section as well as the u. S. Attorneys office, who handles the criminal prosecutions. I will bring that back to them. Thank you. Or is bipartisan agreement on this there is bipartisan agreement on this. I want to ask each of you to do everything you can to shut them down. Some of the witnesses on our second panel urges to be cautious about legislating. Hey favor self regulation as part of your investigation, you looked at industry best practices. Not verythere were many rules in place and in many ways, this was still the wild west of the electronic era. Bestou find that industry practices for being implemented consistently and did you find that consumers were being given the information they needed to make choices about their privacy . Our reports clearly indicate that there is no comprehensive approach. Some companies do pay attention. Very consistently to the rules. And some do not. There is a Great Variety and not a lot of transparency. Those seem to be the two principal problems. There are quite a lot of problems still out there with the application of the rules. I see you are nodding, as ms. Ricj. H. Many Industry Groups say they have opt in as a best practice, but our enforcement more broadly in the related related to the collection of geoLocation Information, including the snapshot case, the Golden Shores case, our case against our survey of kids apps shows that this opt in standard is not being complied with in a regular basis. Ironicund the snapshot because the selling point was that once you post a video or a photo, it would disappear. We alleged that was not true, among other things. Ok. I am running out of my time. I will ask one more question of this item. We want to get to our other panel. Mr. Goldberg, in your testimony, you outline a series fs. Hat it i think we all understand the potential of this. It can be used to steal identity, monitor them without their knowledge. You also say that collection of data location data poses a threat. We all understand that. In your study, in your investigation, did you uncover examples of companies stealing customers identities or stocking them or criminals obtaining location data . We know the potential exists. Did you turn up any nefarious activity . We did not. It was a look at the kinds of issues that were out there. It was not really in the scope. You have mentioned a few of. Hem what has been out there in popular media that has caught your attention . How do you come onto these cases . We find cases in a variety of ways. We may be tipped off by an insider. We may be we may get referrals from businesses or consumer groups or cap people tech people. The question you just asked my colleague, one thing that our cases to show is that companies, even flashlights, are collecting this data. And then they are sharing it. It is being collected and used in given what it can show terms of consumers private activities, that raises concerns. I think we all recognize that people use it for advertising and some of them are not disclosing. See criminals using it for examples ofre that in a criminal way question mark we have seen some of the in a criminal way . We have seen the stalking and we want to make sure we crack down on that. I am wondering in the studies if we have seen that actually occurring. I think the stalking apps are the clearest example of the harm that it can do. But we want to make sure we do not stifle any development of new technologies and positive uses of this geoLocation Information. The department of Justice Works with Law Enforcement agencies and thehe Country Wireless industry to issue amber alerts. Distribution of easy amber alert. Of these amber alerts. Alerts fall within one of the exceptions to the bill . Amber alert have been important identifying missing children. I think we need to look at this issue more broadly and i can bring that back to the department to take a look at it through our office and the office on violence against women. We have seen and you will hear testimony from folks on the second panel if you look at ,he cases of cyber stalking when you look at it from the perspective of the victims of Domestic Violence, we do have a large number of victims who said they have been tracked. , they havee reported been tracked by gps through cell phone or gps. Those are important issues we need to look at. Some people have talked about and some are on programs that would send in amber alert to a specific location if a child was lost in a mall. You do not view the amber alert at that point because there are certain thresholds and standards for which those are issued. It could be confined to a specific location. If theiously, geoLocation Information of individuals in that mall, they would not have consented to receive the amber alert. ,hey would not have opted in but would this be an exception . How do we work with exceptions like that . Useful information could go out. Does that make sense . Im sorry. It is not the area i work in so what i would like to do is bring that back to other folks in the department and get back to you on that. Ok. Alert in Section Three of the bill, we put in ,xceptions and any emergency allowing a parent or legal guardian to locate a minor or child, fire, medical, public safety, or other emergency services. This is specifically in the bill. Mr. Atkinson in the second panel will note that there are certain programs like circle of six, siren seven, these allow women to share their precise geolocation with friends who are in an unsafe situation. Women. An be used to help we want to make sure we do not do something that would prohibit those kinds of uses. That is a little fuzzier than amber alert. Maybe the second panel can shed some light on that. Thank you. Senator blumenthal has joined us. Thank you for having this hearing and for your instrumental work on a lot of this legislation. Thanks to this excellent panel you for your thank work on Sexual Assault in campuses. The president s great work on this issue. Thanks to the wonderful staff. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about what additional steps colleges and universities ought to be taking with respect to cyber stalking and the relationship or the intersection of cyber stalking with campus Sexual Assault. In connecticut, more than 50,000 alked every are stocke year and a lot of it occurs on campuses. I found that College Administrators and officials often were not as focused as they should be on this issue. Availablelogy that is to enable it. Perhaps if you could talk a little bit about that issue. Blumenthal, thank you for your work on addressing campus Sexual Assault in the report you put together as a result of all of the hearings you did in connecticut. The nexus between cap this Sexual Assault between campus and Sexual Assault is important. If you look at the use of cell phones and smartphones phones, especially among the College Campus students. Being donerk that is and there is more work we need to do in terms of looking at prevention messages and incorporating issues of stalking and cyber stalking. We know often that it is not something that occurs by itself, but often escalates over time and it is it can be a precursor to crimes like Sexual Assault or homicide. I agree with you on your point train and talkto to administrators about it. A lot of a lot of our knowledge among the students than there are among the thester enters administrators about the training that is needed to look at cyber stalking and those connections. We are more than happy to work with you and the rest of the committee if there are ways we can make those efforts even stronger. Technology has huge promise and tremendous peril. Awareness of the peril is sometimes difficult among young people who think of themselves as an danceable. As invincible. Because of that delusion, they may be the most vulnerable. The most vulnerable to their friends, who seemingly want to befriend or support them and uses technology to put them in great peril. Thank you for your focus. Richld like to ask ms. Whether you believe you can take action against some of the makers, manufacturers, who may be knowingly or unknowingly promoting misuse or abuse of this technology. To date, we have taken action. We did take action and litigated a case against a promoter of spyware that specifically sold it so that you could capture the movements of somebody secretly. We did that under our existing authority. We brought several cases against that shared geolocation without consent or notice to consumers. We do have authority, but we need to prove deception or unfairness. Requirementssent with exceptions for legitimate lawthat are in the proposed would make it easier for us to enforce. You would welcome this additional measure . We very much support the goals and the basic provisions of the bill, yes. Do you plan to have roundtables or workshops or other means of introducing awareness on students and others . We recently had a seminar on mall tracking, which is not about stalking, but it is about the use of gps to track consumers movements in stores and i think that raised awareness about the use of geolocation and we will be issuing a report on that and we will be we continue to have workshops and seminars on Consumer Protection issues like these. Chairman. Ou, mr. Im going to ask one short question. The latest statistics we have on the prevalence of gps stalking are from a 2006 study conducted by the department. Back then, 25,000 people a year were victims of gps stalking. That was 2006 before the explosion of smartphones. The mass majority the vast majority of adults own smartphones. That rates of gps stalking must have increased. Meantime, will the doj update statistics on gps stalking as soon as possible . If there are barriers, would you tell me what they are . . This was a onetime supplement that we put out in 2006 that was funded by the office on violence against women. Since then, the National Survey 2011 and the National Institute of justice has been working with the cdc on that. There are questions about stalking and what i would like to do is to go back and talk to that toke sure identify any additional questions that would be helpful , just so that we are not duplicating anything. I would be happy to look into that and get back to you. Thank you very much. I have some questions i will submit to you for the written record, but i would like to thank all three of you for your testimony and invite our second panel. All right, thank you. I would like to start by introducing our panel. Served in the Sheriffs Office since 2000 and has been a detective since 2000 and eight. 2008. Detective hill is an expert in Digital Forensics and has trained over 3000 Law Enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and others across minnesota on the use of technology to facilitate stalking. He was trained by the Minnesota Bureau of criminal apprehension, the fbi, and the secret service. He served our country as a member of the air force reserves. Serviceteful for your at home and abroad. I am proud to have you here. We have the executive director of the Digital Advertising alliance. He leads the effort on selfregulation, consumer transparency, and consumer choice. Certifieda is a privacy official and has served as the chief privacy officer for a range of organizations. Allie greenberg is the executive director of the National Consumer league Sally Greenberg is the executive director of the National Consumer league. She worked at the u. S. Department of justice and the antidefamation league. She was also born and raised in minnesota and is a graduate of southwest high school, close to where i grew up. Dr. Robert atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology innovation foundation. He holds a phd in city and Regional Planning from unc chapel hill. He is a published author on economics and technology policy. President of the policy institute and direct their of their new Technology Director of there new technology project. Cindy southworth is the Vice President of development and innovation at the National Network to end Domestic Violence and founder of of the safety net project. She is one of the nations leading experts on stalking apps and has trained thousands of people on the use of technology to facilitate stalking. Thank you to all of you for joining us. Your complete written testimony will be made part of the record. I will note for the record that withy dont we start detective hill . You have five minutes for any opening remarks you would like to make. Member, and ranking distinguished members of the subcommittee, my name is brian hill and i thank you for the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee to testify about Law Enforcement support of the location Privacy Protection act of 2014. Since 2008, ive been a detective with the criminal Investigations Division in minnesota. I am a computer or mobile device forensic examiner investigator. The written testimony i submitted details my trainings, certifications, and professional association memberships. Imagine the trauma of surviving sexual and Domestic Violence. Now add cyber stalking to the trauma. As we all increasingly use our cell phones to work, bank, text, access the internet, or email, and pay bills, stalking apps are a tool to isolate victims from the functions and social connections their phones provide. Including isolating them from contacting Domestic Violence advocates or Law Enforcement. Victims must buy new phones, create new email accounts, and change all passwords and security questions. There are never any guarantees. Victims live with the frightening uncertainty of whether the self stalking apps are really gone or if they will reappear after removal. The privacy and peace of mind continue to be violated by this uncertainty long after they have bought new phones. Victimworked with the who is suspected that her estranged boyfriend put spyware on her phone. Privateed he knew about phone conversations and Text Messages. He would show up randomly where she was. Cannot get a full data extraction to determine if there was any spyware. Later, she brought in her computer. There was then prove the program was installed on her phone. I worked with her on the expensive and complicated task of getting a new phone and email account on a safe computer. Proliferation of cheaper stalking apps have made these harrowing experience is more and more common. In the last three years, our mobile forensic exams have increased exponentially at 220 in three years. After seven years of experience, i continue to discover new apps. Our office is investigating an attempted murder in the context of Domestic Violence. We discovered spyware running in stealth mode on the mobile device. It advertises itself as a seven dollar per rental Monitoring Software which can be installed on smartphones phones to text toessages, called, and track Text Messages, calls, or any data. They notice patterns that the abusers knowledge about the victims life and whereabouts when the abuser has no way of knowing. My department deals with only felony cases, stalking apps are frequently used in misdemeanor Domestic Violence cases. It is laborintensive and requires expensive specialized equipment. Most Law Enforcement agencies however do not have the resources, equipment, staffing, or training to examine mobile devices. To have atunate different tools and dedicated staff for mobile examinations. Other counties and federal agencies request our assistance. In a survey by the Minnesota Coalition for battered women, advocates indicated cyber stalking was the number one priority for Law Enforcement training. Because technology frequently used to stop victims and violate protective stock victims and violate protective orders. I worked closely with the Minnesota Coalition for battered women and its programs to train over 3000 domestic and Sexual Violence advocates, Law Enforcement, prosecutors, and judges since 2009. Our efforts have borne fruit, but strained resources and a lack of awareness undercut our ability to respond to increasing reports of cyber stalking. This erodes Victims Trust in the criminal justice system. Feel victims still crazy when they report the installed stalking apps. When Law Enforcement can respond to reports cannot respond to reports, the victims stop reporting crimes. This act is a major step in addressing the problem. Absently required to notify the user a second time apps will be required to notify the user a second time. Victims will then be notified when the perpetrator does not have access to their phone. Just like in human trafficking, when craigslist no longer allowed certain ads, the company emerged and began to offer those ads. It comes down to economics. Stalkingg stealth gps apps, we make it unprofitable for the companies to make these programs. Brings Public Awareness to the issue by requiring information gathering. ,t supports victim safety making sure a stalking app cannot disguise itself as an employee or family tracking app or as a flashlight app. Act ofyou to support the 2014. Thank you to the committee and for your support of Law Enforcement efforts to keep Domestic Violence victims and our community safe. Thank you, detective hill. Mr. Mastria . Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak at this important hearing. To ensure consumers have access to the same transparency control in mobile as they do on desktop. To thiscular Interest Committee are mobile principles required consent for collection data. Leaving the consumer in charge. Last year, the da released its mobile guidance, providing controls. Riendly this important self initiated update to our principles reflects the market reality that customers increasingly engage with each other on a variety of screens. The daa is a Nonprofit Organization founded by the associations. Organizations came together in 2008 to develop selfregulatory principles to cover the collection. In 2012, the Obama Administration praised the daa program as a model of success. Federal trade Commission Commissioner was quoted as calling the daa one of the Great Success stories in the privacy space. The internet is a tremendous of economic growth. Mobile advertising by itself totaled more than 7 billion last year and that is more than 100 and reese. Increase. Revenue subsidizes the content and services we all enjoy. Advertisersws that pay several times more for relevant ads and as a result, this generates greater revenue to support free content. Consumers also engage more actively with relative relevant ads. Companies have a vested interest in getting this right. Selfregulation is the ideal way to address the interplay of privacy and online and mobile advertising. While preserving innovation. It provides industry as demonstrated either multiple updates to our program with a nimble way of responding to new market challenges presented by a still evolving ecosystem. The mobile program applies broadly to a diverse set of actors who Work Together to deliver relevant advertising. Enhanced notice outside of the Privacy Policy, consent for location data, and strong independent enforcement mechanisms. These principles are intended to increase Consumers Trust and confidence. The mobile Program Leverages an already successful universal icon to give consumers transparency control. In april of this year, daa issued specific guidance on how to provide this transparency tool in mobile. This will provide companies and consumers a consistent reliable User Experience in multiple screens in which they interact. This will provide companies a consumer friendly way to provide notice and choice outside the Privacy Policy. This advancement bills on the level of industry cooperation which has led to daa to being served globally. Release a new mobile choice app. Of particular relevance to this hearing and today, cyber stalking is a serious issue. Criminal activity is separate and apart from a legitimate commercial use is covered by daa. The daa Program Requires and consent higher to collection. We have required privacy friendly tools, including notice, in the download process, notice at first install or other similar measures to ensure that companies are transparent about Data Collection and consumers can make informed choices. To help ensure both the mechanisms we require are used in the Consumer Choices are honored, we rely on our accountability programs. Accountability is a key feature of the daa program. All of our principles are backed by the enforcement programs administered by the Better Business bureau. There have been more than three dozen publicly announced enforcement programs under this program to date. Isould submit that the daa the story of empowering consumers to transparency and control. It is adapted consumer controls to meet quickly evolving market changes and preferences. While responsibly supporting the investment necessary to fund free or lowercost products and services. I am pleased to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. Good afternoon. Greenberg and i am the executive director of the National Consumers league. It was founded in 1999 and is the pioneering consumer organization. We advocate on behalf of consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. Supreme Court Justice louis landmarknoted in a 1928 decision that the right to privacy is the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. We could not agree more. By the seat is a cornerstone of Consumer Protection. ,he ubiquity of smartphones tablets, and mobile devices has dramatically change the way consumers interact. Ofnks to the widespread use location data, consumers can navigate to their favorite coffee shops, discover the closest sushi restaurant, and be more easily located by emergency responders. It has provided immense consumer business benefits. However, as the collection has become an integral part of the mobile ecosystem, so too has Consumer Concern over the use and misuse of the data. 65 of consumers were very concerned that smartphone apps could access their personal locations, ands, other data without their permission. A similar los angeles poll showed that 82 of those surveyed were either very or somewhat concerned about the internet, smartphone firms collecting their information. This should not be surprising. Gained fromion data a desktop computer, data from mobile phones is inherently personal and can be used to disclose information that in many cases consumers would rather be kept private. Some ofotomayor this up perfectly sound this up perfectly. Disclosing gps data will be trips to the psychiatrist, the plastic surgeon, the abortion theic, the strip club, criminal defense attorney, the by the hour motel, the mosque, the synagogue, the church, a gay bar. The consent the consensus among advocates and Government Agencies is that there is no adequate Legal Framework to protect consumer location data in the current and ever evolving mobile ecosystem. Absent such a framework, consumers must rely on business to adhere to a Variety Company policies and his and industry best practices. Is necessary and will help to protect Sensitive Information that consumers use, such as location data. It would do just that, this bill would establish a level Playing Field for businesses that seek to collect and Share Location data. It would help to restore Consumer Trust and ensure that the many benefits of this Technology Continue to flow to consumers and the economy while adhering to conform rules of the road. In particular, it we believe the bills often provisions would allow consumers to take control over their private Location Information giving them the right to choose the share choose to share the information or not and be informed of how their location data will be used and by whom. By prohibiting socalled stalking apps, the law will outlaw a class of inherently deceptive and predatory applications that can compromise personal safety of Domestic Violence victims. No federal law prohibits the operation of these apps, which are designed to run secretly. We strongly believe the section providing for private action are critical. Resources, aited narrowly defined plan of action gives an extra player protection to consumers while addressing industry concerns about abuses of that private right of action. I would like to reiterate our strong support for the bill. Deserve thepect and privacy of their Location Information will be protect it. Absent such protections, consumers may become less trusting, which will be harmful to innovation and the economy as a whole. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I look forward to answering any questions you may have. K yk you, mr. Green miss greenberg. Ms. Greenberg. , thank you, chairman, Ranking Member, members of the kemeny. I appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony today. Are a think tank focusing on policies to support technological innovation. It is legislation geolocation byhe third parties and the second is the use of information by individuals. The issue of limiting the collection of geolocation by third parties would stifle innovation in an area that is rapidly evolving. We have seen for men this growth in innovation locationbased invices and the u. S. Has led this space. The top 10 Internet Companies in the world, eight of them are american. This is in part because of our approach to it innovation. It has been to not regulate ahead of time, unlike europe, which is home to none of those 10. The have embraced precautionary principle to regulate well in advance of any real harms. This is important for locationbased services, especially because there is tremendous innovation happening in this space and it will continue to happen. We will see more innovation in the next five years than in the last. Things like in car navigation and infotainment systems, connected devices, facial recognition, these are interesting and important technologies and they do not lend themselves to a slower moving regulatory process. Aboutd support wha selfregulation being a better approach. From administrator rich, the ftc has already taken action and has ability to. Ontinue we already see selfregulation working. The Digital Advertising initiative and on the two major platforms, ios and android, consumers have the ability to load a ability to turn it off and turn it on. At this point, there is no evidence or very little evidence of actual harms arising from commercial use. Use, i dontcial believe there are really any evidence of harm. All of the concerned expressed by privacy advocates use stems from speculative harms that could happen, but not ones that have happened. Our view is that some of the bevisions in the bill could stifled stifling innovation, particularly in the app space. A lot of these companies, if they were faced with a Million Dollar fine, for making a small coding mistake or putting something inaccurate on a would thinkelieve twice about developing a mobile lab. A mobile app. There are many apps that run in the background that are very important. Carrier iq is a diagnostic app. It enables the system to work so carriers know when calls are dropped. These are apps we want to have running on our phone because they are acting in the public good. Some of theand sections dealing with notice can be problematic. To list everyas Single Company from a business perspective, it could compromise some of their commercial information. Moving onto the Domestic Violence, i commend you on your efforts. This is the most important part of the bill. I think a couple of components we would to provide some suggestions on. At the 24hour seven days notice provision currently applies to all apps, including the Weather Channel or google maps or yelp. They simply cannot get access to the geolocation data that stays there. That is very different than one of the stalking apps, very different from amber alert gps teen. I would urge you to think about rule onlythat 247 two apps where individuals can get access to the gps stream. The stalker cannot use the Weather Channel to stalk his or her victim. The issue is regulating the behavior of the app. I would urge you to think about international access. One of the concerns we have is even if we can shut down these stalkerstalking apps, may be able to get access overseas and thinking about that question, could there be spyking, the same sort of i and it relocates to the cayman islands, could we block access to those . Think geolocation offers many opportunities for innovation and regulation is premature. You, senator, for your leadership on the criminalization of the stalking apps. Thank you, dr. Atkinson. Good afternoon. Is cindy southworth. Representing the Minnesota Coalition for battered women. All 56 coalitions. I founded the safety net project to support survivors, train police, and work with technologists and policymakers on thoughtful innovation. We work closely with Many Technology companies. We serve on the safety advisory board. Presented, we have over 900 trainings to more than 65,000 practitioners. We love technology. We think of ourselves as the geeks of the Domestic Violence movement. I want to say that stalkers use Location Tracking services, devices, andgps smartphone applications. Some spyware is one of the most problematic. It allows abusers to monitor much more than location. It does not notify the victim that it has been installed. A standard feature that developers go to Great Lengths to hide, it does not show up on most most phones as an installed app. These are brazenly marketed to stalkers. Heavily focusing on the features that will help you spy on your spouse. One of the most disturbing apps i have seen recently is called hello spy and has a long list of stalking features and has a continuous animated image on their main webpage showing a scene from a movie where a man roughly shoves a woman off the headfirst. Another webpage, there is a photo of a man grabbing a womans arm. Features,the including tracfone location. Many of the apps on the next poster are developed and advertise directly to stalkers to facilitate crimes. Gps devices and apps may have aided and offender in locating the victim to commit murder. Location tracking was just one piece of an overwhelming list of tactics. In 2009, in seattle, a man used a Location Service on his wifes phone to track her to a local store. He shot and killed their five children and then himself. In philadelphia, a man installed a tracking device on his exs car. Electronic medications privacy act prohibits the manufacture, distribution, possession of advertising. It does not cover devices that surreptitiously track Location Information. I would be happy to send this post are back with the director to give to her prosecutor friends at doj. There are apps the track only gps location and do not offer eavesdropping capabilities. Instancee of only one where the department of justice hasnt died a creator of spyware. Has indicted a creator of spyware. I would be delighted if the developer at hello spy would join this creator and was indicted shortly. Priord to require consent to tracking or sharing information. Survivors of abuse must be informed about how their Location Information will be used and shared. Prominent transparent and easy to understand. Location tracking must be transparent and visible to users. Consent is critical, but consent alone is insufficient. And somes can be added of those safeguards already exists on the Apple Technology letting people know that your location is being tracked. If Gps Technology is being used legitimately, there is no need for stealth mode. In 2005, the antispyware Coalition Created a consensus definition of spyware which stated that tracking software done covertly is spying. This this is probably the most Important Development behind decriminalization. Criminalize the operations to surreptitiously track and facilitate a crime. It is past time to intercept tracking location and intercepting electronic communication. No one should profit from encouraging or enabling criminal act. Stalking cap and device app and devices are making money. There should be a very modest private right of action. Think, is quite low. We have insurance that would cover the accidental oversight. It should not cover that if you are doing it willfully with mallon tenant. In fact parallel state laws. Since the overwhelming majority of these investigations are done at the local level, we hope this model will become a model for state statute. Positiveeen countless ways that technology can increase the safety and support of victims and survivors of abuse and stalking. We think verizon, facebook, the Application Developers alliance, and so many more for working with us to increase victims safety. This will never really impact a handful of ad actors that designer operate products sold crimes. Itate terrifying senator franken, thank you for your tireless efforts to end violence against women. Thank you for your long support of the violence against women act. Thank you. Seven minute rounds for questioning. Detective, you mentioned that you are investigating an attempted murder where the victim was being tracked by a stocking cap stalking app that advertised itself as parental Monitoring Software. We had a public hearing to debate this bill teat of years ago and i read on the website that it was named ephone tracker. Suspect your spouse is cheating . Track every text, call, every move they make using our easy cell phone spy software. Theres a lot of press about it after that hearing. We checkedame day the website again and this is what it looked like. Is your child exposed to sexting . All the stuff about your spouse was gone. Is a common for apps to disguise themselves like this . Absolutely. They will typically advertise themselves as being a Family Tracker or to track your employees. Why dont you just go after stalking apps and leave legitimate apps alone but these are two separate issues. Your answer tells me that if we want to stop the stalking apps, we cannot target just those that label themselves as that. We also have to lay down a few basic rules of the road for any that is collecting your basic Location Information. Like they will just change the name to Something Else stalkers will figure out. We dont want to interfere with a legitimate Parental Monitoring app, but we do want to block those that are pretending to be something they are not. How do you do that . Legitimate Parental Monitoring apps if they follow the best practice of the visible. Based apps are the child knows they are being monitored and they have control functions. They can see there is monitoring occurring. There is no problem knowing that your device is being monitored. The spyware industry definition says if it is a monitoring product, it is spying if its not visible to the user. There is no exception for a child or employee. Need consent but they would still need notice. Or provision is absolutely critical here. Dr. Atkinson, you and your testimony say that reminders might make it harder for parents to keep track of kids because they will know they are being tracked. As you just heard, we cannot limit the reminders only to apps that call themselves stalking apps. A lot pretend to be parental and things like that. More importantly, i disagree with you that the provision proved too broad for all using geolocation data. My bill requires minors only us a nap is running in a way that is intercept the ball. Only if an app is running inperceptible. You say this is a legitimate app imperceptibleably to the user. Took a look at the home screen on my iphone and there it was. This is not my iphone but it is second from the left on the top there and it shows up on your. Ome screen by default you cannot delete it. It is impossible. Every time it gets your location, a little arrow pops up. I dont know if you can see this. It is also in your privacy settings under Location Services. P is reallyd book ap easy to perceive, at least to me. Any apps like passbook app would not have to remind of anything under my bill. My point is that it is not a app ishat passbook running transparently. That is just the industry best actress. They will not have to send any extra reminders using best actresses. Dr. Atkinson, isnt it already industry best practice that location apps run in a way that they are transparent to the user . I should have made it more clear but imperceptible is perhaps a vague standard. You should look at what should be a better definition in the bill as what is imperceptible related but to the size of the icon, seeing it in the list. That is 1. I was trying to make their. Fully agree with you there are tracking apps, or apps report location that run in the background like carrier iq, and an individual cannot access them. I cannot go to the website and find where my phone is. Thats the point i was making. Make sure the definition of any of these apps is only for those were an individual could but something on the phone and then the individual could get access to that data stream. Otherwise, there are others fused for system performance. I really dont think carrier iq should be a model here. People were outraged when they found out the software was running in secret. User, the single biggest remove the software from 26 million devices. Im sure there are isolated cases where the reminder might the superfluous or it might be difficult. This just seems, by and large, very straightforward to me. In your written testimony, you note that there are a number of products that would be considered mobile devices under the legislation but they are not smart phones. These are like smart shoe apps, watchers, Health Devices that shows you how many steps youve walked that day. Notifications. Ow stifle innovation in these areas if you have issues or regulations that cover that . I think it could. Ms. Southworth mentioned an app that is a gps device and the amber alert sells a gps device you can put in your child back act. They could put one of those devices in someones trunk. I support the notion that we should have notice on those, there are certainly other technologies where you could not do that. Then you have some of the new things. How would you do notice on a show, a shirt, Something Like that. There could be notice when you are doing an actual computerlike device. That, sheng up on said the location Privacy Protection act will narrowly impact a handful of bad actors that designer operate products created or sold to facilitate terrifying crimes. Is that inaccurate description of the legislation, that it would simply impact a handful of bad actors . Some of the proponents towards the end of the bill would certainly do that and are needed. Bill is really just focused on broad, generalized, commercial use of geolocation data which has nothing to do with stalking, no relation to stalking or Identity Theft. The bill would address those issues in a way that i think could limit innovation. I certainly agree on that point. As a big part of the bill that i support. Stalking legislation is part of about i remain concerned some of the stifling innovation. Do you want to address back . Senator flake, thank you. We see that selfregulation has been effect is and up to the and up to theive task giving control on the desk top environment and were bringing it to the mobile environment. The desktop environment we have been in for over three years and later this year we will be releasing the mobile choice app which has been a work in progress now for about a year. We released a mobile guidance and an industry code for how to display notice. Earlier this year, it has been a fourstep process that will actually make that guidance and forcible. Do you share mr. Atkinsons concern that some of these new are interactive and that there is no way even for best actresses or businesses to band together for notification if there is no interaction with the user. In your view, does that stifle innovation . One reason we think selfregulation works i want to limit my answer to the scope of the program that i run. Reason we think that innovation is better served by selfregulation is we can quickly adapt and quickly moved to new business models. Not that many are simply thinking about apps, cross app data, precise location. We have not only a set of principles in place and guidance for companies to follow but we to beso putting out tools able to make choices. That has happened and they fairly quick amount of time. If there are challenges to the , that seemsd that to be a quick way to adapt to those changes. In your view, it could be far more nimble than perhaps government regulation in this regard. Thats more eloquently than i could, but yes. They will share users Location Information without consent of any third party that they wish. They have little power to stop them but in that scenario, doesnt the consumer have the ability to use the service or the app . Certainly, thats true. There are many, many apps that consumers find very useful that they need to get from one place to another and i dont think that should mean that they sacrifice their privacy or their say what are you using this data for . Dont i have the right to say . You need to let me know this information is being shared and with whom it is being shared. Can bridge that gap without interfering with a companies ability to innovate and some of the statements that have been made here. Mr. Atkinson, you noted that there were many beneficial uses of tracking apps and mention examples of the loved one locator, project lifesaver, if someone has autism, dementia, alzheimers, family members are track and make sure there is a safe zone that they stay within. In the billceptions for that, but some concerns have been raised where there are situations where a sibling, a close family friend, or others who are not a parent or legal guardian might want to be involved in that. Do you want to address that in more detail . Its important to understand that stalking is not a technological term. Its a behavioral term. The technological term. I do not believe, nor does the bill do this, but we should and tracking applications. Enormous benefits for families and others who want to know where their device is, where their family members are. We need to make sure that we can go forward with that. But im somewhat concerned about , i dont believe we will end up with a situation where companies will change their names and they will just be Family Trackers. Fundamentally, i dont know how. E can solve the problem for example, on the notification, any person who installs a nap on the phone on ios or android, you can turn off notification. Any person who installs an app. How do you monitor your phone . How do you look at the apps running list . All of those things. In both of those operating systems right now, you can just turn off notifications. More complicated, i think, than simply taking some apps that are bad actors in use them for bad purposes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Exemption andcy safety exceptions are not limited to parents. I just wanted you to know that. Thingsalk about a couple. Both you and dr. Atkinson referred to Digital Advertising alliance selfregulatory program for marketing as a Model Program. Just so im clear, you issue this code in july 2013 but you are not enforcing it . Code was issued in july 2013. There had to be several operational steps put into place before it can become operational. There had tos that be a standardized way for companies to display notice to consumers. That happened in april. The next step is to have a nap so they can express their choices the next up is to have an app. Choice,consumer makes a we want to make sure the choice is honored and that companies are held to honoring that choice. So its a Model Program in theory. Top version has been around for almost three and a half years. We have a great pedigree to show that in fact we do put the tools to market that we say we will. Can i ask ms. Greenberg about what your opinion is of the reality you see in best actresses . Practices . It seems the code is coming late in the game to us. Players like the direct Marketing Association put codes in place years ago. With all due respect, weve looked at the code and it is full of holes. We would argue that it feels may bepr gesture and it driven in fact by the introduction of this legislation. That thelso take issue idea that selfregulation is working. I think there is monumental evidence that selfregulation is not working. From theeard witnesses ftc and the gao say as much. The wall street journal did an article that you mentioned with 101 apps being tested and 47 of them disclosed users location to a thirdparty. We very much need this bill because selfregulation is not protecting consumers. There is the point that the Ranking Member made. Has there been any evidence of harm . I think most americans believe that they have some right to privacy. Do you think there is harm that individuals can feel if their privacy is not being protected . The notion that there is no real harm from tracking and using location data for consumers really strikes in the heart of our notions of Consumer Protection and the idea that privacy is a bedrock american principal. Justices of the supreme court, mayor, haved soto mayo articulated that it is a right. The vast majority do care about their location data not being shared without the consent and do want to know where that location data, to whom that location data is being shared and for what purpose. I think that flies in the face of what we know about how consumers feel about their privacy. Like last year, your Organization Posted a blog post about my location bill. The evidence for the use of stalking apps is somewhat thin. Dr. Atkinson, i can understand might economic think tank think that but im curious what people in the field who have actually seen this. Detective hill, are stalking app s common or is the prevalence of the evidence somewhat thin . 220 . Has increased we are finding more and more that these do exist. One week does not go by where the National Office was not set up for direct services but we get calls every single week from survivors who were trying to figure out if the gps devices on the car, the phone, and app. We just dont have enough effective hills detective hills out there to have things examined. I think after atkinson has stated his general approval of piece of thispp so i dont want to send that wrong message. Just in the execution of it in i go to you worth, thatsouth people have a reminder that this is happening. Dr. Atkinson talked about being able to suppress it. It is vital. The behavior is not new. There is general support around helping vic dumbs. Offenders will do anything they can to control their victims. They would look at the odometer when the vic and went to the Grocery Store to see if she stopped to pick up a prescription because it was outside of the bounds of what she was allowed to do that day. There are crazy amounts of control. Some offenders will tell the vic m, i am putting this on your phone and i will be tracking you. Its there and she comes to file a report or a local advocate to talk about a protection order, she can accidentally let the battery run down, but if she does not know it was on the phone because the offender did not tell her, there is no arrow on the top, they cannot do anything to stay safe. Resources. S to the someone who feels like they are that itapped saying must be in this thing. What happens when they go to a Police Station routinely . Dont have the tools to look at it or they may only have one tool to look at it and dont see anything after a quick look and send the victim on the way which can be very frustrating. This is why we need and the bill gets resources to be able and get exactly with the victims need. Absolutely. Im out of time. Ranking member . Is something ive been working on for a long time and you are just the Ranking Member. [laughter] the portions of the bill that deal with stalking, i applaud the chairman for his dedication on this and those that testified, groups and organizations whoever on this for a long time, i do think we definitely need action in those areas. The bill thats of we dont necessarily stifle innovation that can help with some of the same areas we are talking about. I think concerns have been raised about this legislation that may require notice be provided and consent be obtained. The family tablet, gps and the car, is there a concern among some members of your that notification may be given to those who use the same device . I can speak to but the program code is. If you are transferring