Jesse Scheckner
A bill to significantly steepen penalties for using mobile apps or Bluetooth-powered tracking devices like AirTags and SmartTags while committing dangerous crimes just won unanimous Senate support.
Senators voted 37-0 for SB 1168, which would increase punishment for nefariously using the tracking in the furtherance of murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, domestic violence and 22 other transgressions defined as dangerous under Florida law.
Ormond Beach Republican Sen. Tom Leek, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation establishes what he dubbed “aggravated installation.” Under the measure’s proposed changes, violators would face a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Currently, the punishment for using tracking apps and tech without a person’s consent, regardless of what crime it would aid, is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Criminals have increasingly used tracking tech on unknowing victims. Cases include an incident in Brevard County in which a mother found 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.
The bill now heads to the House floor. Lawmakers there can choose to either substitute SB 1168 for its lower-chamber companion (HB 663), amend the House bill to match the Senate bill or send the Senate bill back across the rotunda to be amended to match the House measure.
The House bill, sponsored by Fort Myers Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito, proposes even harsher penalties than its Senate analog. It would make tech-assisted tracking in dangerous crimes a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
