Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 282
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Rules; and Criminal Justice; and Senator
       Hukill
       
       
       
       
       595-04161-15                                           2015282c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to tracking devices or tracking
    3         applications; creating s. 934.425, F.S.; defining
    4         terms; prohibiting the installation of a tracking
    5         device or tracking application without a person’s
    6         consent; creating a presumption that consent is
    7         revoked upon initiation of specified proceedings;
    8         providing exceptions to the prohibition on
    9         installation of tracking devices or tracking
   10         applications; providing criminal penalties; amending
   11         s. 493.6118, F.S.; providing that violations of the
   12         prohibition on installation of tracking devices or
   13         tracking applications by private investigative,
   14         private security, and repossession services are
   15         grounds for disciplinary action, to which penalties
   16         apply; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Section 934.425, Florida Statutes, is created to
   21  read:
   22         934.425 Installation of tracking devices or tracking
   23  applications; exceptions; penalties.—
   24         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   25         (a) “Business entity” means any form of corporation,
   26  partnership, association, cooperative, joint venture, business
   27  trust, or sole proprietorship that conducts business in this
   28  state.
   29         (b) “Person” means an individual and does not mean a
   30  business entity.
   31         (c) “Tracking application” means any software program whose
   32  primary purpose is to track or identify the location or movement
   33  of an individual.
   34         (d) “Tracking device” means any device whose primary
   35  purpose is to reveal its location or movement by the
   36  transmission of electronic signals.
   37         (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), a person may not
   38  knowingly install a tracking device or tracking application on
   39  another person’s property without the other person’s consent.
   40         (3) For purposes of this section, a person’s consent is
   41  presumed to be revoked if:
   42         (a) The consenting person and the person to whom consent
   43  was given are lawfully married and one person files a petition
   44  for dissolution of marriage from the other; or
   45         (b) The consenting person or the person to whom consent was
   46  given files an injunction for protection against the other
   47  person pursuant to s. 741.30, s. 741.315, s. 784.046, or s.
   48  784.0485.
   49         (4) This section does not apply to:
   50         (a) A law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10, or
   51  any local, state, federal, or military law enforcement agency,
   52  that lawfully installs a tracking device or tracking application
   53  on another person’s property as part of a criminal
   54  investigation.
   55         (b) A parent or legal guardian of a minor child that
   56  installs a tracking device or tracking application on the minor
   57  child’s property if:
   58         1. The parents or legal guardians are lawfully married to
   59  each other and are not separated or otherwise living apart, and
   60  either parent or legal guardian consents to the installation of
   61  the tracking device or tracking application;
   62         2. The parent or legal guardian is the sole surviving
   63  parent or legal guardian of the minor child;
   64         3. The parent or legal guardian has sole custody of the
   65  minor child; or
   66         4. The parents or legal guardians are divorced, separated,
   67  or otherwise living apart and both consent to the installation
   68  of the tracking device or tracking application.
   69         (c)A caregiver of an elderly person or disabled adult, as
   70  those terms are defined in s. 825.101, if the elderly person’s
   71  or disabled adult’s treating physician certifies that the
   72  installation of a tracking device or tracking application onto
   73  the elderly person’s or disabled adult’s property is necessary
   74  to ensure the safety of the elderly person or disabled adult.
   75         (d) A person acting in good faith on behalf of a business
   76  entity for a legitimate business purpose. This paragraph does
   77  not apply to a person engaged in private investigation, as
   78  defined in s. 493.6101, on behalf of another person unless such
   79  activities would otherwise be exempt under this subsection if
   80  performed by the person engaging the private investigator.
   81         (e) An owner or lessee of a motor vehicle that installs, or
   82  directs the installation of, a tracking device or tracking
   83  application on such vehicle during the period of ownership or
   84  lease, provided that:
   85         1. The tracking device or tracking application is removed
   86  before the vehicle’s title is transferred or the vehicle’s lease
   87  expires;
   88         2. The new owner of the vehicle, in the case of a sale, or
   89  the lessor of the vehicle, in the case of an expired lease,
   90  consents in writing to the nonremoval of the tracking device or
   91  tracking application; or
   92         3. The owner of the vehicle at the time of the installation
   93  of the tracking device or tracking application was the original
   94  manufacturer of the vehicle.
   95         (5) A person who violates this section commits a
   96  noncriminal infraction, punishable by a $250 fine, for a first
   97  violation. A person who commits a second or subsequent violation
   98  commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as
   99  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
  100         Section 2. Paragraph (y) is added to subsection (1) of
  101  section 493.6118, Florida Statutes, to read:
  102         493.6118 Grounds for disciplinary action.—
  103         (1) The following constitute grounds for which disciplinary
  104  action specified in subsection (2) may be taken by the
  105  department against any licensee, agency, or applicant regulated
  106  by this chapter, or any unlicensed person engaged in activities
  107  regulated under this chapter.
  108         (y) Installation of a tracking device or tracking
  109  application in violation of s. 934.425.
  110         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2015.