Police could track people’s cell phones in real time, without a warrant, under a bill that passed a state House committee on Wednesday.
The bill is intended to help law enforcement find kidnapping victims or runaway children more quickly. Critics said it would extend the government’s ability to secretly surveil people.
The rules wouldn’t allow investigators to listen in on phone conversations, but they could track someone’s location and access information about who they’ve contacted without the need for a judge’s approval.
North Carolina’s appellate courts have already signed off on police getting people’s historical location data from phone companies without a warrant but real-time warrantless tracking is not included.
The new version of the bill would also would also make it easier for officers to get warrants to track people’s phones.
