Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data • Hacker News Board

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#31

Post by jsrozner » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:44 PM UTC

charcircuit wrote: post #22

baranul wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Exchanging private and personal user data without consent and without users being aware of it, for their profits.

The economy is not 0 sum. Someone else profiting doesn't hurt you.

You’re right and wrong: today’s economy is often negative sum from total utility perspective. It hurts society and the person but it helps Mark Suckerberg and Scam Altman and the private equity firms.

It’s positive sum from a wealth-weighted utility calculation though. And that’s why it happens.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#32

Post by lysace » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

This is going to spread like wildfire. ("We can do that?")

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#33

Post by ang_cire » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

codazoda wrote: post #30

peter303 wrote: post #7

NYTimes article a few years ago on how car insurance companies were using such data. Tracking sudden stoos, driving at night, driving faster than 80 mph, etc.

As an aside… I wonder why “80 mph” was picked as an arbitrary value. In rural areas of Utah we have 80 mph posted limits and prima facie speed laws. A lot of Utah drivers regularly exceed 80 MPH and I’d argue they do so legally. It’s just a weird number for them to pick.

I'd surmise it's because several states (CA comes to the top of mind) set speeds in excess of 80 as a potential felony enhancement.

iirc in CA it's 20mph over the speed limit, or speeds over 80.

The insurance companies probably want to know who to raise rates on.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#34

Post by charcircuit » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:50 PM UTC

markdown wrote: post #24

charcircuit wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The economy is not 0 sum. Someone else profiting doesn't hurt you.

Seems you missed that part that DOES hurt us: > Exchanging private and personal user data without consent and without users being aware of it

This information allows other companies to make more informed decisions. Other companies making better decisions doesn't "hurt us".

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#35

Post by mathgeek » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC

kube-system wrote: post #23

mathgeek wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It likely fits the definition of precise location data that you can configure on mobile settings (it's a finer grained option you can enable when sharing your location).

Laws typically define terms like this, and this law is no exception. > "Precise geolocation data" means information derived from technology, including but not limited to global positioning system level latitude and longitude coordinates or other mechanisms, that directly identifies the specific location of a natural person with precision and accuracy within a radius of 1,750 feet. "Precise geolocation data" does not…

Yep, definitely fits with plenty of space. Thanks for confirming.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#36

Post by tzs » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC

codazoda wrote: post #30

peter303 wrote: post #7

NYTimes article a few years ago on how car insurance companies were using such data. Tracking sudden stoos, driving at night, driving faster than 80 mph, etc.

As an aside… I wonder why “80 mph” was picked as an arbitrary value. In rural areas of Utah we have 80 mph posted limits and prima facie speed laws. A lot of Utah drivers regularly exceed 80 MPH and I’d argue they do so legally. It’s just a weird number for them to pick.

They may be looking at a correlation between speed and claims rather than whether or not the speed is legal. Accidents at 80 mph will tend to be more severe, and possibly also more frequent.

Note that they are also looking at night driving, which as far as I know is legal everywhere, but someone who spends a higher percentage of their time driving at night probably is a bigger risk for the insurance company than a similar person who doesn't drive as much at night.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#37

Post by heroprotagonist » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

Great, now you have to ban sharing of it, or banning sale is worthless.

Or rather, only worthwhile as a straw-man you can point to and say "Look, we stopped it!" when you know that's false.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#38

Post by throwaway85825 » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC

*except sale to the government?

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#39

Post by jmward01 » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC

Given the actual informed and uncoerced choice, people say no to this kind of collection and especially its sale or use for any purpose other than the explicit service they thought they were allowing it for (navigation, setting the time, etc etc). This is true for basically all information collected. I'm glad to see there is some minor protection language being included but it needs to have real teeth and get to the point. If you collect data from me under false pretenses or using coercive methods (you can't use the thing you just paid a lot of money for if you say no) you will not only be fined but criminally prosecuted.

Re: Virginia bans sale of precise geolocation data

#40

Post by blitzar » Thu, Jul 02, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

charcircuit wrote: post #34

markdown wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems you missed that part that DOES hurt us: > Exchanging private and personal user data without consent and without users being aware of it

This information allows other companies to make more informed decisions. Other companies making better decisions doesn't "hurt us".

We collect your data, sell it to the highest bidder and sun ourselves on a yacht we bought with the proceeds ... "to help you".