I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3707 

To prohibit Federal agencies from obtaining geolocation information without 

a warrant, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER (for herself, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SCANLON, and Mrs. 

SPARTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit Federal agencies from obtaining geolocation 

information without a warrant, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Trace Act of 

5 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON OBTAINING GEOLOCATION INFOR7 MATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, and not later than one year after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal 


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1 agency shall implement a policy prohibiting such agency 

2 from obtaining geolocation information of a United States 

3 person prior to obtaining a warrant issued using the pro4 cedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Proce5 dure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State 

6 warrant procedures), issued under section 846 of that 

7 title, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 

8 President) by a court of competent jurisdiction. 

9 (b) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—Be10 ginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date 

11 that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

12 a State or unit of local government may not receive funds 

13 under the Byrne grant program or the COPS grant pro14 gram for a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day 

15 of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government 

16 does not have in effect a policy substantially similar to 

17 the policy described in subsection (a). 

18 (c) EXCEPTION FOR THREAT TO LIFE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (a) and (b) shall 

20 not apply with respect to a case if the Attorney Gen21 eral or top justice official of a State determines 

22 there is a reasonable belief that such geolocation in23 formation could assist in mitigating or eliminating 

24 an imminent threat to life or serious bodily harm. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENT FOR EXCEPTION.—If the At2 torney General or top justice official of a State 

3 makes a determination under paragraph (1), the At4 torney General or top justice official of a State shall 

5 inform a judge of competent jurisdiction that such 

6 a determination has been made as soon as prac7 ticable, but not more than seven days after the At8 torney General or top justice official of a State 

9 makes such determination. 

10 (d) EXCEPTION FOR CONDUCTING FOREIGN INTEL11 LIGENCE SURVEILLANCE.—Notwithstanding any other 

12 provision of this Act, it shall not be unlawful for an officer, 

13 employee, or agent of the United States in the normal 

14 course of the official duty of the officer, employee, or agent 

15 to conduct electronic surveillance, as authorized by the 

16 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 

17 1801 et seq.). 

18 (e) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply to 

19 any request for a warrant after the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act. 

21 (f) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

23 the Comptroller General of the United States shall con24 duct a study on the compliance of each Federal agency 


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1 and State and local government with the requirements 

2 under subsections (a) and (b). 

3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) BYRNE GRANT PROGRAM.—The term 

5 ‘‘Byrne grant program’’ means the grant program 

6 authorized under section 1701 of title I of the Omni7 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

8 U.S.C. 10381). 

9 (2) COPS GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘COPS 

10 grant program’’ means the grant program author11 ized under section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus 

12 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

13 U.S.C. 10381). 

14 (3) CONNECTED DEVICE.—The term ‘‘con15 nected device’’ means a device that is capable of con16 necting to the internet, directly or indirectly, or to 

17 another connected device. 

18 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

19 agency’’ means each instrumentality of the Federal 

20 Government. 

21 (5) GEOLOCATION INFORMATION.—The term 

22 ‘‘geolocation information’’ means the process or 

23 technique of identifying the geographical location of 

24 a person or connected device by means of digital in25 formation processed via the internet or obtaining inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3707.IH H3707

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1 formation from a mobile application, connected de2 vice, or other online application to identify or at3 tempt to identify the identity or geographical loca4 tion of an individual, mobile device, or connected de5 vice. 

6 (6) MOBILE APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘mobile 

7 application’’ includes— 

8 (A) a software program that runs on the 

9 operating system of— 

10 (i) a cellular telephone; 

11 (ii) a tablet computer; or 

12 (iii) a similar portable computing de13 vice that transmits data over a wireless 

14 connection; and 

15 (B) a service or application offered via a 

16 connected device. 

17 (7) MOBILE DEVICE.—The term ‘‘mobile de18 vice’’ means a piece of portable electronic equipment 

19 that can connect to the internet, including a 

20 smartphone or tablet computer. 

21 (8) ONLINE APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘online 

22 application’’ includes— 

23 (A) an internet-connected software pro24 gram; or 


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1 (B) a service or application located on or 

2 utilized by a connected device. 

3 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

4 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

5 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is6 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 

7 of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any possession 

8 of the United States. 

9 (10) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

10 ‘‘United States person’’ has the meaning given such 

11 term in section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Sur12 veillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801). 

Æ 


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