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Going online can be like going out in public.

Anyone can approach you at any time.

That's why Iowa legislators want to protect kids from electronic tools sexual predators use to lure victims.

It's against the law to flash someone regardless of age, but technology has created some grey areas.

"Iowa law defines indecent exposure only as exposing yourself in person," Lee County Sheriff Buck Jones said. "It doesn't include anything about electronic transmissions."

But Iowa lawmakers want to change that.

They've created a bill, which would prohibit what they call "indecent exposure by electronic transmission of an image."

It would make exposing yourself and electronically transmitting that image in real time to a minor or unconsenting adult a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison.

It specifically targets indecent exposure via camera phones and webcams.

"We don't get a lot of reports," Jones said. "But I think it's only going to get worse. I think a lot of kids will be sent pornography on some of these chat rooms. So, anything that protects our kids is a good thing."

And that's exactly the sentiment of lawmakers who want to prevent indecent exposure in the computer age.

If the Iowa Senate approves the measure, it will become part of the state's sexual offender law.