New penalties for criminals that use tracking devices like AirTags to help them commit crimes will soon hit the books in Florida.
An AirTag is just $25 and is small enough to be dropped into a purse or tossed into a vehicle without someone’s knowledge.
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Back in 2022, Action News Jax spoke with Jessica Egger, the mother of a University of North Florida student who was alerted a tracker had been detected on her car.
“It was petrifying. Think as the days go on, and we don’t really have any clear answers, it’s even scarier,” Egger said at the time.
Last year, lawmakers made it a third-degree felony to track another person with devices like AirTags without their consent.
Now, starting July 1, criminals who use the trackers to help commit dangerous crimes will face even an harsher punishment.
“Before you had this technology, you think about the effort that had to take place to stalk someone. Now, you can buy one of these things on the internet and have it sent to you and drop it in somebody’s purse or drop it in their car in a matter of seconds,” State Sen. Tom Leek (R-St. Augustine) said.
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Leek sponsored the legislation, which was just signed by the Governor.
Under the new law, use of an AirTag or similar device to commit 26 various crimes like stalking, domestic violence, and human trafficking will carry the weight of a second-degree felony, which can land a person 15 years in prison.
“We’re trying to catch it. We’re trying to stay in front of it. And I think it’ll do a lot of good for a lot of people, just simply because the technology is so readily available. It’s so easy to misuse it,” Leek said. ”This is going to be the right bill for the time.”
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Leek noted most phones will automatically alert you if a Bluetooth tracking device like an AirTag is detected moving with you.
He said if you don’t recognize the device, it’s important to call police and locate the device.
Leek added it’s also important to hold onto the device, so it can be handed over to police to help them identify who the device belongs to.
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