Committee keeps GPS data protected to shield law-enforcement employees' residences

Acting Chair Roland Thompson recommended retaining an exemption that withholds GPS and vehicle-tracker data when such data could reveal the residence of criminal-justice or law-enforcement employees. Thompson described how many officers "keep their cars at home," and that activated GPS trackers can show where shifts begin and end, which could expose officers' private addresses if released.

The committee discussed the narrow purpose of the exemption — protecting employee safety and undercover operations — and recorded a unanimous retention vote. Thompson emphasized the exemption does not preclude public oversight of patrol activities in other aggregate forms but is meant to prevent disclosure of home locations for officers who take assigned vehicles home.

"So many employees, especially the state troopers, keep their cars at home. Those cars have GPS trackers in them that, when the vehicle is turned on and are activated, ... it allows them to be followed by the agency," Thompson said during the discussion.