it is an audacious goal but achievable. it is absolutely achievable. we have seen an incredible success at the local level already. as you heard a mayor, as well as his counterpart in phoenix, mayor greg stanton, they have already effectively ended chronic homelessness among veterans in their state. in new york they have housed more than 2000 veterans in the last year alone. inernor john hickenlooper colorado has been making incredible progress on this issue for almost a decade. governor mark dayton and dan malloy in minnesota and connecticut are also on board as well. we have mayors like chris coleman from st. paul minnesota, mitch landrieu from new orleans and a niece parker from houston and all of these leaders are

involved because it is not just the right thing to do for veterans, but also the right thing to do for their budgets. onent studies have shown chronically homeless person can cost communities between 30-$50,000 per year in emergency room visits, medical bills, law enforcement for some individuals can be even higher. the cost to give someone a home the cost to give someone a home of their own is only about $20,000. this is on so many different levels and that is why i want to applaud everyone leading the way and i want to urge more leaders across the country to get involved as well. we have to get more people. i know how competitive our mayors can be. [laughter] i have seen it. that is why i am excited. you like to challenge each

other. we saw it in phoenix and salt lake city. so, i want to know if more mayors can challenge each other on this issue -- can you challenge a neighboring mayor or governor to see who can get all of your vets into housing first? can you challenge yourself to be the first to and veterans homelessness in the south? take a region. get it done. could each of you cap -- get one more mayor or governor to sign up. this is not just for governors, mayors, officials, but for all of us. organizations. that is where we hope joining forces can help. biden and i started joining forces three years ago one of the groups we were most concerned about was the homeless , but the truth was

we did not know how to get started, and as we have seen federal and local efforts succeed, we realize this is not too big for us to tackle. today, in addition to announcing this wonderful new effort, we are issuing a call to action for americans across the country to do their part to take this issue on. we are asking all of you out there to volunteer your time to help these veterans navigate the system, to find the resources they have earned. maybe you can donate money from your business to pay veterans security deposit, start a donation drive in your community to support efforts to get vets into housing. if your mayor is not on board, light up their phone lines, right into your newspaper. we have power to make a difference. we have the power to change lives here. chris.rd that from

we have another example. doran whol man named is with us today. he served in the air force for three years, including a deployment to korea during the vietnam war. now, he never saw combat, but he saw more and death and devastation than most of us ever back to then he got states he said the first thing that he did was kneel down on a patch of grass and kiss the ground. in the months and years that followed, he could not shake the things he experienced. he started drinking more and isolated himself from his wife and his baby daughter. he ended up getting a divorce falling in with the wrong people. for almost three decades, he was homeless. as he says now, i try to kill myself for 30 years, slowly. he said it got so bad that people were throwing change at

my feet in the streets. finally, he decided to turn his life around. he wrote down a list of 21 things he wanted to accomplish -- things like opening a bank account, cooking in his own kitchen. he moved from detroit to st. paul, minnesota, and once he got there, he walked across town to a local nonprofit that he knew could help him, and with their help and the help of the minnesota assistance counsel for veterans, he got into housing and a substance abuse treatment program, and today, he has checked off all 21 items on that list. [applause] he is cooking. [applause]

a little cooking in the kitchen. [laughter] page his own rent. he even held his own daughter who he had been separated from 425 years. like so many of our veterans, he continues to give back. he is working full-time as a caseworker to help other veterans find and sustain housing of their own. he is dedicating his life to making sure every veteran that comes almost never have to go through what he did. here is the thing, that is especially important now because over andwar in iraq the war in afghanistan drawing to a close, thousands of men and women who risk their lives for this country are transitioning back home, and we can not make the same mistakes for this generation that we have for the past generation. so, that means we have to move quickly. we have to share best practices between cities. we have to find every veteran

like chris, and make sure she does not fall into homelessness in the first place. we have to reach out from every veteran -- to every veteran from doran's generation and get them under a roof right this minute. we have made great progress over the past few years because of leaders like all of you who refuse to accept veteran homelessness as a fact of life, and now we have to finish the job once and for all. because when a veteran comes home kissing the ground, it is unacceptable that he should ever have to sleep on it. so -- [applause] so, just like it is our alltry's duty to bring back of our men and women from the battlefield, we also have a duty

to make sure every single veteran has a place to call home when they get here and for the rest of their lives. so, thank you all. thank you for this effort. thank you for your courage. thank you for all of the work so many of you have been doing on the ground long before we ever showed up. this means so much to these men -- and their beer families. it is truly a sign that they're coming home to a grateful nation and i am proud to be part of this effort, so, let's get to work. thank you all. [applause]

[applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining us. our program will continue. the auditorium -- >> there might be action thursday in the u.s. senate on veterans issues with legislation introduced by bernie sanders, and also by senate republicans yesterday dealing with veterans health care called the veterans choice act, sponsored by senators john mccain, jeff flake, and senator coburn. their comments are about half of an hour.

>> good afternoon. i am joined by my colleagues, senator byrd, and my colleague from arizona, senator flake. we are all very aware of the ongoing scandal that has this at our treatment of men and women who have served in the military. scandal has reached proportions where the american people are deeply angered and are demanding that we make changes to fix this problem. inre are even charges that our home state of arizona that 40 people died while waiting for care. i do not know of an issue more serious than this for the american people, as to how we

treat those that have been willing to answer in sacrifice on behalf of the nation. i especially want to say thank you to my colleagues, including senator byrd, whose role in the veterans affairs committee is vital and dr. coburn, who understands and has been involved in the issues of the veterans administration for many years. my colleague senator flake is also taking a lead role in trying to address this terrible, almost tragedy -- it could be described as a tragedy, what has afflicted our care for our veterans. we are introducing the veterans choice act of 2014. the bill will give eligible veterans greater flexibility when choosing their medical care, and increase accountability and transparency thatn the v.a. to ensure it delivers quality care to our

veterans in a timely fashion. the bill would accomplish these goals by the following -- it would empower veterans i cannot schedule an appointment within a reasonable time or live too far away from a facility to exercise the choice -- i emphasize the choice, of getting medical care for many doctor in a medical care or tri-care program. i have always believed that veterans could choose and should i firstand that is why proposed it in 2008 when i ran for the presidency of the united states. cae these veterans a choice rd so they can present it to the health care provider. wait timecheduling or metrics or goals that could be determined -- used as factors in determining goals or bonuses. require the veterans administration to establish penaltieshat outlines

for falsifying data, including civil penalties, suspension, or termination. finally, empower the secretary top executive at the secretary determines his or her performance warrants removal. following removal, the secretary will certify and notify congress of the removal and the reason for the removal. this program will sunset after two years and require the inspector general to audit it every two years. unlike senator sanders bill, this addresses the root causes of the current v.a. scandal and empowers veterans with greater flexibility to get the quality medical care he or sure -- you are she deserves. finally, i would like to emphasize again the inspector general, just last week, reported that 1700 veterans who were awaiting primary care appointments in the va hospital in phoenix arizona -- phoenix,

arizona, were not placed on the electronic waiting list. the ig report stated "most importantly, these veterans continue to be at risk of being hsaotten or lost in phoenix 's convoluted scheduling process ." as i mentioned earlier, the inspector general is investigating 42 ba facilities across the united states and inspector general has identified instances of manipulation of the a database to store the legitimacy of reported waiting times. this legislation squarely addresses the root causes of the tragic circumstances that bring us here today. senator burr? >> just a few things to add. john mentioned phoenix. when the phoenix investigation began, we had already had 12

reports from either the ig, the office of special counsel, or medical investigations that pointed to exactly the same things that came out in the yet since 2010, senior leadership at the v.a. ignored attempting to make any changes, any reforms to address any of the problems that all of these investigations raised. that is why we are here. this bill is targeted. it is focused specifically on fixing a short-term problem, which is how do we get veterans the care that they deserve, and leadership to make the systemic changes that they need to make, addressed by the inspector general. some on capitol hill would claim this is all about money. let me remind you that since 2010 in the health care of -- account alone, the ba his paid foure v.a. has paid over

$.6 million. these are appropriated dollars they determined are not needed for the delivery of health care to our nation's veterans. a matter of fact, there has been no investigation that has said there was a shortage of money. every one of the investigations pointed to things like that clinics, double scheduling, veterans left off of the roles or request dates that were changed so that they met with in a 14-day time frame, leaving us in an unknown situation as to how long these veterans waited for anything from primary care to oncology needs they might have had medically. so what does the bill do -- it is choice, transparency, and it is change. it is not encompassing everything that congress would like to pass as it relates to v.a. legislation, but it addresses the urgent things proud right now, and i am

to announce that as of this press conference the american concernedvets, and veterans of america have publicly supported this bill, and we hope there will be more veterans organizations before we mark this bill up. thank you. tom? did not ever serve in the military, but like many of you i have the benefits of living in a great country because people put on that uniform and serve for me. to me it would seem that if you are a combat veteran of this country, you ought to be the first in line, not the last in line. your access ought to be guaranteed, not for nominal care, but for the best care. what we have right now is a system that is not working. to give an live up to the commitments -- to equal the

commitments that our veterans have given us. this bill is a focused new -- is a focused bill. it is about maintaining the v.a. and making it better, but it is also about honoring the sacrifice of the veterans that have served this country. when they have a need, get it addressed. not to have to wait, not to be a haveulated number, but to access to the care that not only they need, but that they deserve more than any of us, any of us. i am proud of the work that we have done. there is lots to do. i would leave here with a little bit of information. the average practitioner in a va hospital sees half the number of patients the average practitioner outside of the va hospital sees in the annals of family medicine published two years ago. it is not about the number of doctors.

it is about actually working in getting the job done. we have some great physicians in the v.a. system. we have some great hospitals, but we have problems. this bill is about addressing those problems. vix i will be very brief. as you can imagine -- >> i will be very brief. if you can imagine, being a veteran in the phoenix area and waiting an average of hundred 15 days for an appointment, some longer, and if you can imagine living in my hometown, snowflake, and having to get drive hours for a checkup, this bill will make sure they can see somebody else. that is a we have to do to fix the system. >> questions. >> senator, thank you. technically, i am told that if right now, veterans

waiting over 30 days can already access a private doctor. can you describe the mechanics of how your choice card would differ from the system in place now, and if i might, senator burr, you are on veterans affairs. he can -- can you address what happens to the funding of the 27 community clinics -- could you see the republicans changing the votes? >> first of all, that is up to the discretion of the v.a., the ability to get care or not, and most times they do not get that. want to make, we this mandatory, and we also want to make it for a certain geographic location as well where it would be required. so, they may be eligible in some instances, but it is not happening.

this legislation would make it happen. >> let me just add this empowers a veteran to make the decision versus relying on a bureau cap to determine -- bureaucrats to determine whether they want to divert money to an outside payment because that is the way they are structured within the v.a. we are very supportive of that. i will tell you that in an amendment process, we wanted to keep his bill focused on just issues that we thought addressed today's biggest challenge, and that is getting veterans seen. as republicans, we are very supportive of the expansion. >> you would use prior-year money? well, there is a $4 billion that has not been spent the last

four or five years. there is $480 million that is not going to be spent this year. there is plenty of money to do this. money is not the problem at the veterans administration. it is management and accountability and honesty and treating, and giving the veterans of we need. i do not expect a significant problem. it is a two-year will. it sunsets after two years. there is plenty of money in the v.a. organization today to handle this. >> are their efforts to pay for this? >> it is paid for already. again, we have a problem in the v.a. system. the first thing we hear is that it is money, but they are not spending the money. that is a management competency level issue. would remind you we have four

va hospital is under construction right now that are $1 trillion over budget. $500 million over budget in denver alone. i mean, it is called competency. what we have to do is demand accountability. there is plenty of money. >> you can see why i recommend strongly that dr. coburn see -- be the next secretary of veterans affairs. logging -- lobbying for john mccain to be jay carney's replacement. [laughter] what i do not want people to walk away from is taking about the k -- v.a. as about health care. 50% is about benefits, and that side is broken -- is as broken as the vha side.

is connected through education, job training, and other programs. health care is exactly what it sounds like -- it is health care, but it is also the homelessness programs run through the v.a.. >> what is your plan for trying to get action on this, in a senate that has a majority of democrats --what democrats are you talking to? is senator sanders one of them? >> we have all spoken to a number of democrats. they are very interested in joining with us in an effort to get legislation accomplished. i can not specifically state their positions, but i know this, that we are in your two sit down with our -- eager to sit down with our democratic colleagues and get this bill to the floor and i believe the amendment process and through debate, which senator harry reid is not allowed on other pieces ,f legislation, is vital

because there are a lot of good ideas out there. this is our blueprint and we are proud of it, but we're willing to listen to debate and amendments, and if harry reid were to agree to that, i believe we can get a veterans choice act through this congress in a week. >> at me and to that that senator rubio as 10 democratic sponsors to the accountability act and that might be a tougher swallow than a choice act would be for democrats. >> why would that be tougher? >> simply because it changes employment rules, which democrats have always been suspect of, but i think what we see is broad-based support, not just outside of congress, but inside congress to empower our veterans to make choices as it relates to their health care. >> if i could just say one thing on this -- is there an issue

morally more important than meeting the needs of our veterans in this country? the foundation of having other people serve depends on how well we take care of those that have, and if we cannot see the leadership, either on our site or their side, to come together to fix what is really wrong -- not a christmas tree bill that satisfies everyone's wants and wishes, but a bill that is a problem-solving bill, then shame on the u.s. conference and shame -- congress and shame on the u.s. senate. are you saying because there is all of this money in the health accounts unspent that some of the money could be used to fill the vacancies? >> it could, but the first thing i would ask you to look at is how many patients -- it does about 50% of the average waiting room around the country.

doing the more people, or the people there doing more work? primary careg on assignments. they work on half the rate at which doctors outside of the v.a. work. doing it more or the ones they're working at the rate the rest of the country works at? i do not think there is a problem. >> one of the things we do under transparency is we will require the v.a. a to supply to health and human services on an annual that in the same dataset non-va hospital's report their data on patient quality and institution quality. we will be asking them to report the same thing, which will begin to give us the data they need to make assessments whether under-staffing is a problem. it is important that as we talk about other additions to the a, whether that is personnel or additional changes, that we actually wait for the inspector general to, with his full report.

changese if you address in 151 institutions, we probably would need an independent audit of those facilities by an entity tohird-party tell us what is broken in each individual place because the ig is finding systemic things across, but there is also a process different at every v.a. facility, and it is going to be absolutely vital that we figure out how to get a handle on those differences because without knowing those, it is hard for us to then judge what types of changes we have to legislate. >> let me give you a vignette -- individual worth it -- orthopedic surgeons use their resident to help clean operating rooms to treat the patient in a faster and better way, so they can actually utilize their time 12 -- actually help people. they were put on administrative leave for using their residents to clean an operating room to help someone because the regular

staff was so slow. is that where we want to send veterans? should they get the greatest care, the best care? should they be in front of us when it comes to care? i think they should be in front of me and every member of my family. when i was not a reporter in washington i recall during the 1980's, because the problems with the v.a. health system back then, talk of closing down the v.a. hospitals and letting veterans go to the private sector where they would presumably get better treatment. why not just scrap the whole system? -- for several reasons, but one reason of great importance is there are certain areas which only the v.a. has the talent and expertise -- traumatic brain injury, spinal

prosthesesms, ptsd, -- there are a number of areas the, really, the v.a. is place, and i'm afraid that if you did away with a lot of that, then, obviously, we would lose that ability to treat our veterans, particularly the war wounded. but, with a choice that we have now with this but with the choice that we have with this proposal, if a veteran this, theo with veteran can choose that. i would argue there are many health care providers that are as good or better in other areas . in other words, the veteran should have the choice where he or she can get the best treatment. that is what this is all about. >> this is limited. this is limited geographically, or if you are denied access on a timely basis.

we are not trying to undermine the v.a.. we are trying to improve the v.a., but also improve access up the same time. [inaudible] also, i would like to ask about sergeant bergdahl. but i will let john take her doll. -- >> i will let john take bergdahl. we are here to talk about a very specific approach. but there is a shortage of physicians in this country. it's going to get worse. the v.a. is going to have to compete, whether you have more money in there are not. but i'm telling you, the problem right now is not physicians. the problem is the work rate on average in the v.a..

>> in the case of sergeant bergdahl, disagreement is, in my puts future men and women who are serving in the military at great risk. these individuals were judged in guantánamo that frequently, if they were released, it would cause great risk to the men and women serving on the battlefield. these individuals, as senator graham calls them the fab five, , these individuals will be able to move around , and after oner year, they will be able to go back to afghanistan. 30% of those who have left guantanamo have already reentered the fight. this is the hardest and toughest

of the mall. these are wanted war criminals. one of them is supposedly guilty of murdering thousands of shiite muslims while he was in charge outside of, i believe, kandahar. decision to bring sergeant bergdahl home -- and we applaud that he is home -- is ill founded. it is a mistake. the lives ofting american servicemen and women at risk. and that, to me, is unacceptable to the american people. but these were taliban leaders. >> no, they were members of al qaeda, too. >> [inaudible] >> they were associated with an part of the taliban. i'm sure you are aware that in 2001, the taliban and al qaeda

were working together, which is the reason why we went there. these individuals working with al qaeda. >> [inaudible] is that they were held in guantánamo. but these people dedicated their lives to destroying us -- >> these people dedicated their lives to destroying us. why do you think that the judgment was made that if we released them they would pose a great risk to the united states of america? >> they are taliban. >> they are taliban and al qaeda. don't you understand? you are an old man, you might al qaedathat in 2001 found a haven with the taliban. that is why we originally invaded afghanistan. to somehow separate the people from al qaeda is just damp full it is. foolishness. >> i understand your problem with giving up the taliban members. i still cannot get my head

around a plotting that bergdahl is home and opposing the swap. should he be in captivity under the circumstances, or she -- or should he not? this swap should never have been made. but i think we should have repeated -- should have continued with every effort to bring him home. thank you. hill are live on capitol for a hearing by the subcommittee, a hearing about locating devices and tracking apps. on a bill a hearing to protect sensitive location information, a privacy protection act of 2014. three years ago, i held a lawsng to look at how our 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 so-called 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 you're 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, you'll 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 third-party -- 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 anti-domestic violence and consumer groups. without objection, i will add letters for the record from the minnesota anti-dramatic views: anti-domestic 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. location-based 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 industry's 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. i'm 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 chairman's award in 2011 for her contributions to the ftc's 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 as's 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 victim'sem to track movements and medications without consent. they can read their text

messages and e-mails, 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 i'm 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 consumer's 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 opt-in consent prior to collection from a consumer's mobile device. why is this data so sensitive? canvice's 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 they're kids walk to school in the morning and return home in the afternoon. this data can be accessed and used in many ways consumers don't 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 user's 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 location-based services. >> he actually sounded very good. [laughter] i'm 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 location-based 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 commission's 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 you're 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. they're 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. attorney's 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 f's.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 alert's. distribution of easy amber alert. -- of these amber alert's.

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? i'm 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. >> i'm 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 one-time 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 self-regulation, 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 anti-defamation 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 nation's 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 don't 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, i've 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 e-mail, 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 e-mail 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 e-mail 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 abuser's knowledge about the victim's 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 labor-intensive 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 self-regulatory 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. self-regulation 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 lower-cost 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 so-called 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 -- location-based 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 location-based 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 self-regulation being a better approach. from administrator rich, the ftc has already taken action and has ability to .ontinue we already see self-regulation 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 don'tcial 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 24-hour 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 24-7 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 woman's 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 wife's 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 ex's 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 hasn't 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 anti-spyware 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