A1549 ACS

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY

District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)

Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Verrelli, Assemblywoman Haider, Assemblyman Stanley, Assemblywomen Park, Piperno, Eulner, Jaffer, Reynolds-Jackson, McKnight and Mosquera

SYNOPSIS

Makes it fourth degree crime to engage in certain tracking and location activities.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Substitute as adopted by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.

An Act concerning electronic tracking devices and tracking applications and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. As used in this act:

“Electronic tracking device” means any device used to track the location or movement of a person that reveals its location or movement by the transmission of electronic signals.

“Tracking application” means any computer application software installed or otherwise operational on a computer or mobile device that may be used to track the movement or determine the location of the computer or mobile device.

b. A person who, for an unlawful purpose uses an electronic tracking device or tracking application to track or determine the location of anotherperson commits a crime of the fourth degree.

c. For the purposes of this act, the following uses of an electronic tracking device or tracking application shall be considered lawful:

(1) by the parent or guardian of a minor child for the purpose of tracking or determining the location of the minor child;

(2) for the purpose of monitoring, tracking, or locating a person who, due to a physical or mental health condition, may be at risk of injury or death;

(3) by a person who has obtained the consent of the person to be tracked or located, in accordance with subsection e. of this section;

(4) by a person in order to track or locate personal property during a lawful business transaction in which the person’s personal property is in the temporary possession or otherwise under the control of a third party;

(5) by a person collecting consumer location data as part of a lawful business practice, and with notice to the consumer; or

(6) by a person acting in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of P.L.2021, c.449 (C.34:6B-22) or any other State or federal law or regulation.

d. Except as otherwise provided in subsections c. and f. of this section, there shall be a permissive inference that the use of an electronic tracking device or tracking application to conduct surreptitious surveillance of another person is for an unlawful purpose, including, but not limited to, stalking as provided in N.J.S.2C:12-10 or harassment as provided in N.J.S.2C:33-4.

e. (1) For the purposes of obtaining consent to use an electronic tracking device or a tracking application in accordance with subsection c. of this section, the person to be tracked or located shall provide consent in writing, in the case of an electronic tracking device, or by opting-in to or otherwise affirmatively accepting the use of the application, in the case of a tracking application.

(2) For the purposes of this act, a person’s consent is presumed to be revoked if:

(a) the person who gave consent and the person who obtained consent are spouses, civil union partners, or domestic partners, and one person has filed a petition for divorce, dissolution of the civil union, or termination of the domestic partnership; or

(b) the person who gave consent or the person who obtained consent has filed an application for a temporary or final restraining order pursuant to the provisions of the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991,” P.L.1991, c.261 (C.2C:25-17 et al.).

f. The provisions of subsection b. of this section shall not apply to State or local government entities and equipment, leased, owned, or operated by those entities.

2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.