Compromise pushes cell phone tracking bill forward

Sen. Branden Petersen
State Sen. Branden Petersen, R-Andover, stepped forward recently to co-sponsor a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, taking some of his constituents by surprise.
Photo courtesy Minnesota Senate

A near-unanimous state Senate vote on a bill to limit how police can track cell phone locations is the result of an 11th hour compromise with law enforcement, said Sen. Branden Petersen, R-Andover.

Petersen is one of the bill's authors. The compromise creates a new class of warrant called a "tracking warrant," which has less stringent legal requirements than a search warrant.

Petersen told MPR News' Tom Crann that a tracking warrant is still better than the current system, in which law enforcement does not have to establish "probable cause" before collecting ongoing data about people's location.

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The legislation was prompted by news that the Hennepin County Sheriff's office and the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension have purchased devices that can mimic cell phone towers and capture nearby cell phone data, including location information.

"Law enforcement has disclosed very directly to us that they have used these devices hundreds of times collectively," Petersen said.

The bill the Senate passed Tuesday by a 56-1 vote would also apply to other ways of tracking location information including in-vehicle navigation systems.

He said law enforcement groups were not initially supportive of the legislation.

"We were careful to carve out exceptions for use of this technology in emergency situations," Petersen said.

He said he hopes the House of Representatives will follow the Senate's lead and that the bill can get Governor Mark Dayton's signature.

"There's a bigger issue around to what degree law enforcement bends the ear of the governor," Petersen said.

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"I'm hoping that the strong vote in the Senate and ultimately a strong vote in the House will convince the governor that there is some sort of unanimity around this issue."