GPS Tracking Laws in Florida: Statute 934.425, Exceptions, and Penalties

Under Florida GPS tracking laws, placing a tracking device or tracking app on another person’s property without their consent is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The controlling statute is Section 934.425 of the Florida Statutes, which the legislature strengthened in 2024 by upgrading the offense from a misdemeanor. Separate stalking statutes and federal law can add charges when the tracking becomes harassment or crosses state lines.

What Section 934.425 Prohibits

The statute makes it illegal to knowingly place a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property without consent, or to use one to monitor another person’s location or movements without consent.¹ Both hardware and software are covered. A “tracking device” is any device whose primary purpose is revealing its location through electronic signals; a “tracking application” is software primarily designed to track an individual’s location.

One definition shapes how the rest of the law works. The statute defines “person” as an individual, and it explicitly excludes corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships.¹ The criminal prohibition targets people, not businesses acting in a business capacity, which is why employers and lenders sit in a different position than a jealous ex-partner or a nosy neighbor.

When GPS Tracking Is Legal in Florida

The statute lists several exceptions. The ones that come up most often involve parents, vehicle owners and spouses, employers, and lenders.

Parents and Legal Guardians

A parent or legal guardian can place a tracker on a minor child’s property, but the rules depend on the parents’ relationship. If both parents are married and living together, either one can consent. If they are separated, divorced, or living apart, the rules tighten based on custody.¹ A parent sharing custody should not assume they can install a tracker on a vehicle the child uses if the other parent objects. When custody is shared and cooperation is uncertain, getting the other parent’s written agreement or a court order avoids the risk of a felony charge.

Spouses and Vehicle Owners

Ownership of the vehicle is the starting point. If you are the sole owner, you can place a tracker on it even if your spouse drives it. Putting a tracker on a vehicle owned solely by your spouse without permission violates the statute. Jointly owned vehicles are murkier, and attaching a tracker without the other co-owner’s knowledge can also feed a separate stalking charge.

The statute contains an automatic consent-revocation rule that catches many people off guard. If either spouse files for divorce, any prior consent to tracking is presumed revoked. The same applies when either person files for a protective injunction under Florida’s domestic violence, repeat violence, dating violence, or stalking injunction statutes.¹ A tracker that was legal last month can become a felony the day a petition is filed. If a divorce or injunction filing is imminent and a tracker sits on a shared or spouse-driven vehicle, remove it immediately.

Employers and Company Vehicles

Employers can install GPS trackers on vehicles the company owns. Because the criminal prohibition applies to individuals rather than business entities, a company tracking its own fleet vehicles falls outside Section 934.425.¹ A written policy telling employees that company vehicles are tracked, and describing what data is collected, avoids later disputes and protects the employer if a worker claims they were never told.

Lenders and Financed Vehicles

Auto lenders and buy-here-pay-here dealerships sometimes install GPS trackers on financed vehicles so they can locate them for repossession. Because a lender is typically a business entity rather than an individual, the criminal prohibition does not apply the same way. Even so, the tracker should be disclosed in the financing paperwork. A tracker installed without the buyer’s contractual consent can create breach-of-contract exposure and consumer protection problems for the lender.

Law Enforcement, Warrants, and Private Investigators

Law enforcement officers are exempt when they install or use a tracker as part of a lawful criminal investigation.¹ In practice, “lawful” almost always means a warrant. In United States v. Jones, the U.S. Supreme Court held that physically attaching a GPS device to a vehicle and monitoring its movements is a search under the Fourth Amendment, so officers need a warrant supported by probable cause.² Correctional officers and juvenile probation officers have their own statutory exemptions for people in their custody or under supervision, and anyone authorized by a court order can also use a tracker.

Private investigators get no special treatment. A PI is an individual under the statute, and a professional license carries no exemption. A private investigator who sticks a GPS device on a target’s vehicle without the owner’s consent commits the same felony anyone else would. This surprises clients who assume hiring a PI unlocks broader surveillance. Following a person in public is legal. Attaching a tracker to their car is not.

Penalties

How the offense is charged depends on what the tracking was for and whether it fits a pattern of harassment.

Installing or using a tracker without consent is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.³⁴
If the tracker was installed in connection with a dangerous crime such as burglary, kidnapping, or sexual battery, the charge jumps to a second-degree felony, carrying up to 15 years in prison.³
Repeatedly tracking someone in a way that causes substantial emotional distress can be prosecuted as stalking, a first-degree misdemeanor with up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.⁵⁴
Adding a credible threat upgrades stalking to aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony with up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.⁵

Prosecutors can stack these. Someone who installs a tracker without consent and then uses the location data to harass the victim can face both the Section 934.425 felony and a separate stalking charge. Stalking that continues after a protective injunction is automatically aggravated stalking, even without a separate credible threat.⁵

A victim can also petition for a stalking injunction under Section 784.0485 without waiting for a criminal case. If the court finds the petitioner is a victim of stalking or cyberstalking, it can order the respondent to stop all contact and tracking.⁶ Violating that injunction is aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony.⁵ A separate civil suit for emotional distress, lost wages, and the cost of finding and removing the device can run alongside or independent of any criminal prosecution.

When Federal Law Also Applies

When tracking crosses state lines or relies on interstate electronic communication, federal law can layer on top of the Florida statute. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2261A, using electronic communication or traveling in interstate commerce to engage in conduct that places someone in reasonable fear of serious injury, or that causes substantial emotional distress, is a federal stalking offense.⁷ GPS trackers that send their data over cellular networks typically use interstate communication infrastructure, which can pull the conduct into federal jurisdiction.

Federal penalties are steep. Where no physical injury results, the ceiling is five years. Serious bodily injury pushes it to 10 years. If the victim dies as a result, the sentence can reach life imprisonment.⁸ Stalking that violates a protective order carries a mandatory minimum of one year.

If You Find a Tracker on Your Vehicle

Finding a hidden device is unsettling, and the first few minutes matter for any later prosecution or civil claim.

Leave the device in place. Removing it can compromise fingerprints, disrupt stored data, and alert whoever is watching that you know.
Photograph and video the device from multiple angles, showing where it is mounted and any visible make or model.
Call local law enforcement and let them handle removal. Installation is a felony, so a report should be taken seriously.
Consider petitioning for a stalking injunction under Section 784.0485 if you suspect a specific person. No criminal conviction is required.⁶
Talk to an attorney about civil damages for emotional distress and financial losses tied to the tracking.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 934.425 – Installation or Use of Tracking Devices or Tracking Applications; Exceptions; Penalties
2
Legal Information Institute. United States v Jones
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 934.425 – Installation or Use of Tracking Devices or Tracking Applications; Exceptions; Penalties
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 784.048 – Stalking; Definitions; Penalties
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 784.0485 – Stalking; Injunction for Protection
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2261A – Stalking
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261 – Interstate Domestic Violence