Virginia’s Geolocation Ban Marks a Victory for Personal Safety

Earlier this week, the Governor of Virginia signed a piece of legislation that bans the sale of precise geolocation data. This signals a major shift in how states protect their citizens from the “surveillance-for-profit” industry.

The new law specifically targets the sale of geolocation data within a 1,750-foot radius. For privacy advocates, this buffer zone is the crown jewel of the legislation. By mandating a radius of roughly a third of a mile, the law prevents data brokers from pinpointing the exact doors people walk through.

Without these protections, brokers have historically sold data precise enough to identify where a person lives and works, which places of worship they attend, the health facilities they visit, and the retail stores and community centres they frequent.

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of this victory is the unanimous, bipartisan support the bill received in the Virginia legislature. The protection of personal movement is starting to look like a universal priority.

The momentum is not limited to Virginia. With Maryland and Oregon already sporting similar laws, and states like California and Massachusetts currently debating their own bans, we are witnessing the emergence of a privacy patchwork that is slowly forcing a national reckoning for the data broker industry.

As noted by policy experts at Consumer Reports, the risks of precise tracking have evolved from mere targeted advertising to more sinister threats, including stalking, individualized scams, and the targeting of vulnerable populations.

Recent investigations have highlighted how this data has been weaponized. Reports have surfaced of data brokers selling nearly real-time movement data (within a 10-meter accuracy) of national security officials and individuals visiting sensitive health clinics. Virginia’s new law serves as a direct shield against these intrusive practices.

But is this truly a privacy win? I mean, many privacy laws allow for data collection if the user has provided “consent,” a standard often buried in lengthy, incomprehensible Terms of Service agreements that most consumers click through without reading. If brokers can still collect this data under the guise of “service improvement,” the ban on selling the data may lose its teeth.

	PIVX: Your Rights. Your Privacy. Your Choice