Clash over bill to ban citizens from secretly tracking others

FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida House and Senate have approved a bill to ban private citizens from secretly tracking the movements of others without consent.

It would ban a person from secretly attaching a GPS or similar device to a vehicle of belongings of the person to be tracked.

The ban exempts law enforcement and businesses, but it includes private investigators, and they are not pleased about it. They say they often use secret GPS devices to track the movements of stalkers and abusers.

However, the Abuse Counseling and Treatment center in Fort Myers believes, the “private eyes” have it backward. ACT says it’s far more likely that an abuser will track a victim, than the other way around. ACT supports the bill and wants Gov. Rick Scott to sign it into law.

The bill has not yet reached the desk of Gov. Scott. However, it will soon, and his office says the governor will review the bill when he sees it. The office gives no indication on whether he will sign or veto it.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor to violate the GPS ban. The proposed law also allows parents to place a tracking device on the vehicle of a minor child, if both parents agree to do so.