Florida's New Anti-Tracking Law is in Effect: Penalty Increases

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo by Đức Trịnh on Unsplash

It just got a little more illegal to stalk someone in the state of Florida. Effective as of October 1, Senate Bill 758 amends Florida’s statute 934.425 to ban people from intentionally placing and using a tracking device or application on the property of another person without consent. 

Therefore, such a device or application cannot be used to locate or trace the movement of another person’s property without consent either. Senate Bill 758 also expands the law to specify that people do not have to place the tracking device or application themselves in order to be penalized.

In addition, this new law amends Florida’s statute 493.6118 to allow the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to have a role in disciplining any “licensee, agency, or applicant regulated by ch. 493” that is involved in the illegal use of a tracing device or application. Chapter 493 covers Florida laws relating to “private investigative, private security, and repossession services”.

The exceptions to this anti-tracking law include the use of a tracking device or application by the parent or guardian of a minor, the caregiver of a disabled adult or elderly person, the owner or lessee of a motor vehicle, and local, state, federal, and military law enforcement. 

The penalty for violating this law has been increased from a second degree misdemeanor to a third degree felony.

Senate Bill 758 was originally prepared by the Criminal Justice Committee, filed on December 6, 2023; and voted through unanimously in the Senate and House with votes of 37-0 and 113-0, respectively. It was presented to Governor DeSantis on April 16, 2024, and he approved it on April 26, 2024.

For complete details on this new law, click here to read all four pages of Senate Bill 758. For the official summary, click here. 

Article by Ema Tibbetts