The following items are taken from reports issued by legislators and other items of political concern.
‘Spy apps’
Assembly Republican Ron Dancer, R-Ocean, Burlington, Monmouth and Middlesex, is concerned about the continued erosion of personal privacy and the weakening of Fourth Amendment constitutional privacy rights.
Assemblyman Dancer has introduced legislation intended to give consumers clarity about the privacy policies of telecommunications companies on their monthly bill and the conditions under which the company may disclose the customer’s proprietary information.
The bill, A4294, directs the Board of Public Utilities to develop a public awareness campaign designed to let people read the “fine print” in an understandable way.
”First and foremost, these bills are designed to protect the consumer, who should be aware of what personal information is being shared or accessed by third parties,” Assemblyman Dancer said. “A public awareness campaign by the BPU will let people know that by virtue of signing with a telecommunications carrier, they may have implicitly approved of the sharing of proprietary information with other companies. The fine print on privacy agreements needs to be worded in a conspicuous and understandable way so the consumer knows what they are signing.”
Assemblyman Dancer’s second bill, A4416, makes it a third-degree crime for a person to use a software application that can be downloaded onto someone’s cell phone that disables or hides notification to the user that their phone contains global positioning software disclosing their whereabouts or that their cellular communications can be accessed by a third party.
Assemblyman Dancer’s legislation is similar to that of a New York assemblyman who is pushing for a ban on such smartphone “spy” applications marketed as “Spy2Mobile” and “iTrack.”
”There is an explosion of technology on the market that effectively eavesdrops on private communications or discloses where people are without their knowledge,” Assemblyman Dancer said. “Most consumers are not aware of the level of sophistication, which some applications provide. They are marketed as ‘fun’ products, but they have the effect of making people vulnerable to predators.
”Downloading a location tracker onto someone’s cell phone without their consent is devious and dangerous. These kinds of intrusions are akin to an illegal wiretap. There is nothing innocent about intruding into someone’s personal affairs, and, at the very least, an individual should have the choice to decide whether you want to subject yourself to more surveillance.”
Samaritan law
Joined by professional experts the day before the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy making landfall in New Jersey, Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, D-Camden, Burlington, called for good Samaritan legislation to improve the state’s ability to respond to large-scale natural disasters.
Modeled after successful approaches used in 26 other states, A3694 would bolster safety inspection capacity in the aftermath of disasters like Sandy, the scale of which easily can overwhelm local governments.
”Whether it is tornadoes in Alabama, earthquakes in California or hurricanes in New Jersey, good Samaritan laws are critical in ensuring a safe, effective and speedy response to major natural disasters,” Assemblyman Greenwald said. “By passing a good Samaritan law in New Jersey, we will better prepare our state to respond rapidly and efficiently to the next Superstorm Sandy.”
Assemblyman Greenwald’s legislation, A3694, would shield licensed architects and professional engineers from liability when they volunteer their services in response to major natural disasters. Without such protection, many of these professionals are deterred from volunteering their professional aid in times of critical need — unduly restricting the ability to quickly and effectively provide safety inspections after a large-scale disaster.
”When our communities are in crisis after a natural disaster, they need all the help they can get,” Assemblyman Greenwald said. “Yet the potential for massive lawsuits keeps these critically needed volunteers on the sidelines. By enacting a good Samaritan law, we will promote public safety while greatly strengthening our state’s ability to effectively respond to disasters.”
According to a 2013 article in Crain’s New York Business, nearly 400 architects stood ready to use their professional expertise to assist in assessing storm-damaged properties in New York City days after Superstorm Sandy hit. But the specter of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in potential lawsuit liability deterred the vast majority from volunteering their assistance, leaving local officials overwhelmed by the scale of the task.
Without a good Samaritan law, New Jersey faces a similar problem.
In contrast, Alabama’s good Samaritan law, enacted in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, was crucial in the aftermath of devastating tornadoes that killed 64 people and caused $2.2 billion in damage in April 2011. In response to the devastating category EF-4 tornado, more than 200 professionals volunteered nearly 1,300 hours in Tuscaloosa alone, inspecting more than 7,000 buildings for safety — critical assistance given the municipality’s limited staff resources.
”Volunteer licensed architects have been a key component in disaster response across the country for decades,” said Jack Purvis, president of the American Institute of Architects, New Jersey chapter. “Majority Leader Greenwald’s good Samaritan legislation will promote better safety and more efficient disaster response for the next natural disaster that hits New Jersey.”
”When major disaster strikes, volunteer professional engineers stand ready to answer the call,” said Robert Thiel, president of the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers. “Majority Leader Greenwald deserves great credit for this good Samaritan bill, which will help New Jersey better respond to the next big storm.”
To protect property owners, licensed professionals would be shielded from liability only after meeting A3694’s rigorous legal standards. To qualify for immunity, licensed architects or professional engineers must provide professional services:
• Voluntarily and without compensation.
• At the request of a federal, state or local public safety official acting in his or her official capacity.
• At the scene of a declared national, state or local emergency caused by a major hurricane, earthquake, tornado, fire, explosion, collapse or similar disaster.
• During a limited period of time after the disaster (90 days following the emergency with extensions permitted by gubernatorial executive order under the governor’s emergency powers).
Under the bill, licensed architects or professional engineers would remain liable for the full extent of damages caused by their own acts or omissions that are wanton, willful or grossly negligent.
A3694 has been referred to the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee.
Flooding
Sen. Michael Doherty, R-23, has voiced his support for an effort by the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders to prevent Delaware River flooding by reducing the maximum permitted capacity of upstream New York City reservoirs from 105 percent to 90 percent of capacity.
”Flooding along much of the Delaware River has become a regular occurrence when heavy rains hit the region, but it doesn’t have to be that way,” Sen. Doherty said. “We should revisit current rules that are meant to protect New York City from drought, but, instead, relegate the Delaware River Basin in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to recurrent and unnecessary flooding.”
As the freeholders noted in a resolution adopted at a meeting Oct. 23, a decree issued by the United States Supreme Court in 1954 governs how water in the Delaware River Basin is diverted, stored and released.
Under that decree, the City of New York is permitted to maintain reservoirs at 105 percent of capacity from May 1 to June 15 of each year to prevent summertime water shortages that might affect residents of the city.
Warren County Freeholder Edward J. Smith, the sponsor of the resolution, noted that, with no excess reservoir capacity to collect stormwater during that period, heavy rains from a wide region that feeds into the New York City reservoir system are funneled down the Delaware River, putting lives, property and infrastructure in New Jersey and Pennsylvania at risk.
The freeholders’ resolution seeks to require upstream reservoirs be maintained at a maximum of 90 percent of capacity at all times, providing excess capacity to hold water collected from significant rain events, thus preventing downstream Delaware River flooding.
Sen. Doherty said he will reach out to state officials urging an effort to amend the decree as the Warren County Freeholders have proposed.
”The 1954 decree has been amended before, and I think it makes sense to do so again considering the history of flooding along the Delaware River,” Sen. Doherty said. “Maintaining a bit of extra capacity in New York City’s reservoirs will do little to diminish the city’s ability to maintain a sufficient supply of drinking water, but it will do much to protect residents along more than 100 miles of the Delaware River from the ravages of flooding.”
