In general, no. Section 934.425 of the Florida Statutes makes it unlawful to knowingly install a tracking device or tracking application on another person’s property without that person’s consent. The statute carries limited exceptions, and a violation is a second degree misdemeanor.
This comes up constantly in divorces, custody disputes and business partnerships, usually phrased as “it’s our car, so it’s fine.” Often it is not fine. This is general information and not legal advice, and the answer can turn on facts specific to your situation.
What does section 934.425 actually say?
It prohibits knowingly installing a tracking device or application on another person’s property without that person’s consent, where the purpose is to determine that person’s location or movement. Consent has to be genuine, and consent given for one purpose does not carry over to another.
What are the exceptions?
The statute names several. A law enforcement officer or agency that lawfully installs a device as part of a criminal investigation. A parent or legal guardian tracking a minor child, but only where one of the statute’s conditions is met: the parents are married and not separated and either consents, the person is the sole surviving parent, the person has sole custody, or the parents are separated or divorced and both consent. There are also exceptions covering business use of company vehicles and certain caregiver situations.
Notice what is not on that list: a spouse tracking a spouse, a partner tracking a partner, or an employer tracking an employee’s personal vehicle.
What about a car we both own?
Joint titling does not automatically make it lawful, and this is where people get into trouble. The statute is written around tracking a person, not around who holds title to metal. If your spouse is the sole driver of a jointly titled car and you place a device to monitor their movements, you are tracking a person without consent regardless of whose name is on the registration.
Ask your attorney before anyone puts anything on a vehicle. This is a question with a real criminal answer attached to it, and the cost of asking first is nothing.
Can a private investigator place a tracker for me?
No. A licensed investigator is bound by the same statute and will not place a tracking device on a vehicle a client does not own and control. A firm that offers to do it is describing a crime and telling you how it will handle the rest of your case.
What a licensed investigator can do is conduct surveillance from public vantage points, which is lawful, produces documentation you can actually use, and does not expose you to a criminal charge or hand the other side a weapon in your family case.
I found a tracker on my car. What now?
Do not throw it away. A device on your vehicle placed without your consent is potential evidence of a crime, and its position, condition and serial numbers matter. Leave it where it is, photograph it in place if you can do so safely, and get advice before removing it.
A vehicle sweep documents the device where it sits and preserves it to evidentiary standards before anything is moved, so that you, your attorney or law enforcement can decide what to do next. A single vehicle sweep is $500 flat.
If you believe you are being tracked, do not research this from a device the other person can see, and do not discuss it inside a space they can access.
Written by Joshua Goldberg, Florida private investigator license C3400073, owner of Insight Investigative Group, LLC, agency license A3400127, Bradenton, Florida. General information, not legal advice.
Related: TSCM bug sweeps and vehicle sweeps and domestic investigations.
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