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Subcommittee advances bill letting law enforcement request wireless device location in emergencies
Summary
A Senate Judiciary subcommittee voted to advance a bill that would require wireless carriers to provide device location to law enforcement in emergencies involving imminent death or serious bodily injury and to add liability protections for providers and officers who act in good faith.
A Senate Judiciary subcommittee voted to move forward a bill that would require wireless service providers to provide location information of a user’s device to law enforcement when requested to respond to an emergency involving an immediate risk of death or serious bodily injury.
The measure, discussed as Bill 114, also would shield wireless carriers and law enforcement from civil and criminal liability when they provide or request location data in good faith and would require the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to collect and distribute contact information for carriers to law enforcement agencies.
Maura, a staff presenter to the subcommittee, summarized the bill: “This bill would require wireless service providers to provide the location information of a user's device upon request by law enforcement. Law enforcement would only be able to request such information to assist them in responding to emergency situations that involve the risk of death or serious physical harm.”
The subcommittee adopted an amendment tweaking statutory language to align with federal terminology. As amended, the bill’s emergency threshold was revised so that a law enforcement agency may not request location information “unless for the purposes of responding to a call for emergency services that involves immediate death or serious bodily injury to any person at the time of the request or in an emergency situation.” The amendment replaced phrases such as “the risk of” with “immediate” and “physical harm” with “bodily injury” for consistency with federal usage.
The chairman, who identified himself as a former law enforcement officer, described a field incident to explain the bill’s rationale: he recalled a case in North Charleston in which a kidnapping victim’s phone was not “pinged” promptly and said, “If we'd have been able to ping the phone right away, we'd worked with us and I understand the situation. But if that would work, I think we would have been able to intercept and save her life.”
The subcommittee voted by voice to approve the amendment and then voted the bill favorably to the full committee as amended.
Stakeholders at the hearing generally framed the change as a narrow emergency exception tied to immediate threats to life or serious bodily injury; no formal opposition was recorded in the subcommittee proceeding.
Votes at a glance: The amendment and the bill passed on voice votes in subcommittee and the bill was reported favorably to the full committee as amended.
Outlook: If the full committee and then the Senate approve the bill, the measure would require SLED to collect carrier contact information before the provision could be used operationally.
