Steeper penalties for AirTag use in dangerous crimes nears Senate floor

Image via Fresh Take Florida.

Creeps who use mobile apps and Bluetooth-enabled devices like AirTags and SmartTags to track people without their knowledge could face heightened punishments under legislation edging closer to a Senate floor vote.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice voted 9-0 to advance SB 1168, which would update a 2015 ban on placing or installing a tracking device or application on another person’s property without their permission.

Lawmakers last year steepened the penalty for tech-assisted stalking from a second-degree misdemeanor to a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

But harsher penalties are merited for harsher offenses, according to St. Augustine Republican Sen. Tom Leek, who filed SB 1168.

Leek’s bill and its House analog (HB 663) would make tech-assisted stalking for the purpose of furthering or committing a dangerous crime as categorized in Florida Statutes — murder, domestic violence, robbery, sexual assault, kidnapping, extortion and terrorism, among others — a second-degree felony carrying a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and/or $10,000 in fines.

Leek described the update as adding an “aggravated installation” category to statutes.

“It’s critical that we establish a deterrence to those who would utilize these technologies in the furtherance of these crimes, which do real harm to our citizens,” Leek said Monday.

Asked by St. Petersburg Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson whether there was evidence to show that the existing third-degree felony punishment isn’t a sufficient deterrent, Leek said he had “no objective data” on it.

An online search for examples of people using tracking devices and apps for nefarious purposes produces troubling results, including one story of a Brevard County mother finding a tracking device in her son’s shoe after a 2023 Christmas parade and a 2022 case in which a police officer in Miami-Dade County was charged for using an AirTag to stalk his ex-girlfriend.

There have been at least two murders in which the culprit used an AirTag to follow their victims.

SB 1168, which cleared the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on March 11 with unanimous support, will next go to the Senate Rules Committee, its last stop before reaching a full vote by the chamber.

HB 663, sponsored by Fort Myers Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito, cleared its first of two committee stops this month without opposition and pends a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee before advancing to the floor.