MN legislature considering data breach, cellphone tracking laws

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — New restrictions on police use of cell phone tracking technology have won backing from the Minnesota Senate. Senators voted Tuesday to require a special tracking warrant when a device is used to find a person's location by their cell phone or other electronic devices. The bill says law enforcement must show probable cause of a crime. People being tracked must eventually be notified that their information was collected.

Also, a conference committee of state House and Senate lawmakers is working to iron out the differences in a bill that would govern the access of data by public employees and put harsher penalties in place for anyone caught going outside the scope of their job. One of the main sticking points, according to Beau Berentson of the Association of Minnesota Counties, is the Senate provision that requires Minnesotans to be notified any time someone views their information.

Patrick Hynes of the League of Minnesota Cities says another point of contention is a Senate provision that requires the name of a public employee to be posted on the website of the city or county where the data breach occurred. Hynes says that sort of public shaming is not good human resources management practice.