Caution: Potholes in E-Scooter Data Collection

Lime scooters keep ending up in major waterways in Washington state metro areas, a testament to the ubiquity of e-scooters in the metropolitan landscape. How they get there is unclear. Why they get there is even murkier. Perhaps the answer lies in the implications of modern geolocation data collection through e-scooters and gaps in current data collection regulation curbing individual liberties. Since September 2020, electric scooters have run Seattle’s streets and have dramatically overtaken ridesharing bike trips. For example, from September 2020 to September 2021, there were about 1.4 million scooter and bike trips with September 2021 seeing 300,000 scooter trips compared to around 35,000 bike trips. Moreover, one-fifth of scooter users reported that they use scooters to reach other transit options. This generally tracks with how cities like Seattle implement a micromobility service (MMS) in solving what transportation experts refer to as the first/last mile problem, which “refers to the first/last leg of a commuter’s trip, from either home or work to a node of public transportation or vice versa.” For Seattle, that means many commuters are using these e-scooters to reach bus stops, light rail stations, and even ferries. To provide this service, Seattle and the MMS must collect the geolocation data of the scooters and, by proxy, those who ride those scooters— a concerning trend with serious privacy consequences for users that implicates their ability to move freely. This Note proposes that state legislatures should adopt user-centric statutory schemes that minimize the collection of geolocation data by municipalities and MMS. First, the Note explains how and why cities and MMSs collect and share this data. It then discusses dangers that the collection of mobility geolocation data pose respecting the personal safety of users, including access to abortion, and the constitutional implications of collecting this data. In light of these dangers, the Note follows by surveying and critiquing current approaches to the collection and abuse of this data. Then, it explores paradigm-shifting approaches to safeguarding geolocation data. Lastly, this Note advocates state legislatures should adopt a comprehensive statutory scheme regarding geolocation data for transportation services that allows MMS users to both opt out of sharing their trip location data with the municipality they are operating in and allows users to permanently delete previous trip history.