“Unknown AirTag Found Moving With You” – Too Bad!

While GPS devices, such as Apple AirTags can be a convenient, inexpensive way to keep tabs on our valuables, millions of Americans have had the technology turned against them. It’s estimated that 13.5 million people are stalked every year and a 2021 report from the Department of Justice shows nearly twice as many people are being stalked with the use of technology than without.

The consequences of this type of stalking can be devastating. For example, in Kansas, two women had been murdered due to an ex-boyfriend tracking them with an AirTag.

In 2023, this prompted a change in Kansas law, with support from multiple Kansas police officers testifying, reporting having problems pursuing perpetrators using tracking devices in domestic violence, stalking, and violation of protection order cases with the law as it was written.

Similarly, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, while advocating for changes to Ohio’s stalking laws, referenced several instances where law enforcement’s hands were tied and could do little to stop the tracking due to gaps in the law. Some reported on the difficulties of even finding the trackers, due to their small size.

While the Kansas legislature closed their loophole, most state stalking laws have gaps that make pursuing criminal charges against those who stalk using non-consensual GPS trackers difficult, leaving victims vulnerable. Roughly only 26 states have laws that deal with nonconsensual tracking.

Oftentimes, stalking statutes were written for a pre-digital age and have not been updated. For example, Nebraska’s current law notes that “Any person who willfully harasses another person or a family or household member of such person with the intent to injure, terrify, threaten, or intimidate commits the offense of stalking.” The law is too broad and doesn’t mention tracking an individual’s location via technology.

In Ohio, the old law did mention technology, but only in terms of sending “written messages” like texts and emails, so a loophole once again remained for GPS tracking devices. Ohio lawmakers thankfully addressed this oversight in December 2024 with overwhelming support of SB100 in December of 2024.

Arizona and Kansas took meaningful steps to fix this gap by updating their stalking statutes to explicitly include unauthorized electronic or GPS tracking devices. These laws make it clear that placing an AirTag or similar device on someone’s car, bag, or belongings without their consent can be charged as stalking. Prompted by rising concern of AirTag misuse and legislation being passed in other states, Arizona legislators passed a law which now considers “Use (of) any electronic, digital or global positioning system device to surveil a specific person. . .” as stalking. Similarly, in 2023 Kansas added “Utilizing any electronic tracking system or acquiring tracking information to determine the targeted person’s location, movement or travel patterns. . .” into their definition of stalking.

In both states, the bills passed with strong bipartisan support, recognizing that personal safety should not be a political issue. By modernizing their laws, both states have created clearer tools for law enforcement to intervene early and help prevent harm, setting an example for other states to follow.

We should not have to wait for someone to be hurt or killed for lawmakers to act. The evidence is clear: millions of people are stalked each year, and technology like AirTags has made it easier, cheaper, and quieter for perpetrators to target victims. Yet, in over half the country, outdated laws still don’t treat unauthorized GPS tracking as stalking.

Lawmakers in every state should examine their stalking laws and speak with their local law enforcement officials to determine if there are existing gaps that need to get filled. Every person should be able to live free from coercion, fear, and unauthorized surveillance and no one should get an alert that they’re being tracked, only to learn the law offers them no protection.