- HB158 aims to broaden unlawful tracking offenses beyond just vehicles.
- Legislation aims to deter tracker abuse in domestic violence situations, sponsor says.
- The bill would prohibit people from tracking other people's kids or nonconsenting adults.
As technology advances, tracking devices are now more accessible and affordable than they ever have been.
These types of devices, including Apple’s AirTags, have been involved in cases where adults and children were tracked without their consent. The Utah Legislature is looking at a bill to address that concern.
HB158, sponsored by Rep. Doug Owens, D-Millcreek, would make it not just illegal to place these trackers on vehicles but also on any personal property without consent. The bill was heard in the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Monday.
“This bill concerns the issue of the increased prevalence of tracking devices,” Owens said.
Owens said he recently checked on Amazon and saw that a pack of four Apple AirTags can be purchased for $70, while there are knockoffs that cost less than $10.
The representative said the devices are great for keeping track of lost keys or finding your car in a parking lot. But, he added, “you can drop that in somebody’s car or backpack and track where they go.”
Currently, he said, state law only prohibits tracking motor vehicles that aren’t your own.
“There’s kind of a gap in the statute. There’s some creepy stories that have emerged in the press and in law enforcement,” Owens said.
Tracking without consent is also seen often in domestic abuse cases, he said.
What would this bill do?
Owens shared some examples of tracking devices being placed without consent. In Colorado, a family found a tracking device in their child’s toy after leaving a park; in Texas, a woman discovered a tracking device in her bag after going out to dinner; and in Florida, a parent found a tracking device in their child’s shoe.
“There’s one big idea behind this bill, and that is that you should not be tracking other people’s children, and you should not be tracking nonconsenting adults,” Owens said.
Currently, state law prohibits the placing of tracking devices on motor vehicles. HB158 would extend that to also include personal property such as a bag or an item of clothing. It would also include installing secret applications on someone’s phone and tracking them from their devices, as well.
Placing these tracking devices without consent would be a class A misdemeanor and would provide a civil cause of action, allowing the victim to sue the person who placed the tracker.
The bill also clarifies that if an individual gave consent to be tracked but then later revoked it, continued tracking would be an offense.
Under this bill, certain individuals would be exempted from penalty, such as law enforcement officers acting in an official capacity, licensed private investigators using it for legitimate purposes, and parents or guardians tracking their dependent minors with appropriate consent.
“I think if I was a victim of this, I would definitely want some way to prosecute it,” said Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake.
Unlawful tracking is seen in domestic violence cases
Carl Hollan with the Statewide Association of Prosecutors and Public Attorneys shared tracking without consent is often seen in domestic violence cases.
He said that abusers are trying to exert control over the person they are abusing, and “one of the ways that they’ll do that is exerting control over where they go, and they’ll use trackers to do that.”
In 2023 and 2024, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found that 29.3% of male stalking victims and 15.6% of female stalking victims were tracked through GPS technology.
The survey also found that a larger portion of stalking victims were tracked through apps, computer software or other stalkerware.
Hollan added that in the past, the abusers would physically stalk the person or track their cars, but new technologies have given them new ways to keep track of the person they’re abusing.
“They’ll use simple devices like AirTags or an AirPod, that you might listen to as a headphone, that they’ll put on that person’s property or in that person’s vehicle so that they can track that person’s movements,” he said.
He added that these victims who are being tracked feel unsafe, and this bill will help law enforcement to actually be able to do something about it.
“What this does is it just makes sure that our law is up to speed with the current reality of what our technology will allow, and it helps us keep those victims safe,” Hollan said.
During Monday’s committee hearing, Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, shared that she has had a constituent reach out to her multiple times who has been tracked by an ex-spouse.
“I’m really grateful that you brought this bill forward,” Shepherd said to Owens.
Apple’s new technology is helping to solve this problem
Sgt. Greg Wilkin with the Salt Lake City Police Department said that when AirTags first came out, there were a lot of cases of people being tracked without their consent.
Now, Apple has added a feature that tells people whenever there is an AirTag following them, which helps to ease the problem — it allows people to know when they’re being tracked and solve that issue more quickly.
He said that one detective had a case where someone was at the airport and their phone told them they were being tracked by an AirTag. Once they got home, that went away, so investigators believe someone on their flight had an AirTag, and that close proximity as they got off the plane caused them to be notified.
“I think that that ability to sense an AirTag in the area is helping a lot,” Wilkin said.
He added that since people have been notified, there have been a lot fewer reports of people being tracked by the devices without their consent.