Bill hiking punishment for using AirTags in dangerous crimes zips through last Senate committee

Legislation setting steeper penalties for using mobile apps or Bluetooth-powered devices like AirTags while committing any of 26 crimes designated as dangerous in Florida Statutes is now bound for the Senate floor.

The Senate Rules Committee voted 25-0 for SB 1168, which would hike punishment for using the tracking tech while in commission of crimes like murder, kidnapping, human trafficking and domestic violence.

St. Augustine Republican Sen. Tom Leek said such infractions would be designated as “aggravated installation.” Under the bill, violators would be liable for a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

That’s a laxer penalty than proposed in the bill’s lower-chamber counterpart (HB 663), which would make tech-assisted dangerous crimes a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Currently, the punishment is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

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 and HB 663, sponsored by Fort Myers Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito, are now well-positioned to pass, having both cleared all their respective committee stops with uniform support.

It remains to be seen which of the two proposed punishments — a second- or third-degree felony — Leek and Esposito agree to.