MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Stalking by smartphone. It’s a growing problem, and a Minnesota lawmaker wants to stop it.

U.S. Senator Al Franken told the Judiciary Committee in Washington that GPS technology is being used for sinister means by companies that create phone apps to stalk people.

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

“Tens of thousands of women are stalked annually through the use of GPS technology” Franken told the committee of which he is a member.

The Minnesota Democrat read an ad from one such company to make his point: “Worried that your spouse might be cheating? Track every text, every call and every move they make using our EasyCell Spy Phonesoftware.”

Franken’s bill would require companies to get a customer’s permission to collect location data and share it with third parties. It also would make it a crime to operate a stalking app.