Jesse Scheckner
Using mobile apps or tracking devices like AirTags and SmartTags to commit infractions classified in Florida as “dangerous crimes” will carry steeper penalties under legislation just cleared for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature.
House lawmakers voted 116-0 for SB 1168, which would increase the punishment for nefariously using tracking technology to commit or facilitate crimes of murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, domestic violence and 22 other transgressions defined as dangerous under Florida law.
Senators OK’d the bill, sponsored by Ormond Beach Republican Rep. Tom Leek and Fort Myers Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito, on a 37-0 vote April 9.
Esposito spoke for the bill ahead of the House vote Tuesday but restricted her comments solely to describing its effects.
Under the measure, 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.
Esposito tabled her version of the bill (HB 663) in favor of SB 1168. Hers proposed even harsher consequences than its Senate analog and would have made tech-assisted tracking in dangerous crimes a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
