3.2 Tracking Devices and Applications (F.S. 934.425) & Digital Voyeurism (F.S. 810.145)
Key Takeaways
- Section 934.425(5)(a), F.S., makes a violation a FELONY OF THE THIRD DEGREE - it was reclassified from a second-degree misdemeanor by chapter 2024-114, Laws of Florida - and a second-degree felony when done to commit or facilitate a dangerous crime under s. 907.041(5)(a).
- Section 934.425(2) prohibits not only INSTALLING or PLACING a tracking device or application on another person's property without consent, but also USING one to determine the location or movement of another person or that person's property.
- Under s. 934.425(3), consent is PRESUMED REVOKED once a petition for dissolution of marriage is filed between the parties, or once either party files an injunction for protection under s. 741.30, s. 741.315, s. 784.046, or s. 784.0485.
- The business-entity exception in s. 934.425(4)(g) expressly does not apply to a person engaged in private investigation on behalf of another unless the activity would be exempt if performed by the person who engaged the investigator.
- Section 810.145, F.S., was renamed "digital voyeurism"; an offender 19 or older commits a third-degree felony, dissemination and commercial dissemination are third-degree felonies, and a prior conviction elevates the offense to a second-degree felony.
Tracking Devices and Applications (F.S. 934.425) & Digital Voyeurism (F.S. 810.145)
Quick Answer: Florida's tracking statute is s. 934.425, F.S. It was amended in 2024 and again in 2025, and it is now a third-degree felony. It reaches both installing and using a tracker, it presumes consent revoked on divorce or injunction filing, and it contains an exception list that expressly singles out private investigators.
1. The Prohibition (s. 934.425(2), F.S.)
Except as provided in subsection (4), a person may not knowingly:
- (a) Install or place a tracking device or tracking application on another person's property without that person's consent; or
- (b) Use a tracking device or tracking application to determine the location or movement of another person or another person's property without that person's consent.
Paragraph (b) is the one investigators overlook. You do not have to touch the vehicle to violate the statute. Monitoring a tracker someone else placed, or logging into a tracking application on a subject's phone, is an independent violation.
Definitions (s. 934.425(1), F.S.)
| Term | Statutory meaning |
|---|---|
| Tracking device | Any device whose primary purpose is to reveal its location or movement by the transmission of electronic signals |
| Tracking application | Any software program whose primary purpose is to track or identify the location or movement of an individual |
| Business entity | Any corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, joint venture, business trust, or sole proprietorship conducting business in Florida |
| Person | An individual - the term does not include a business entity |
[!NOTE] The "primary purpose" language matters. A dedicated GPS puck is squarely a tracking device. A general-purpose application that incidentally logs location is a harder case. Do not build an operational plan on that ambiguity.
2. Consent Is Presumed Revoked (s. 934.425(3), F.S.)
Consent that was validly given is presumed to be revoked if:
- (a) the consenting person and the person to whom consent was given are lawfully married and one of them files a petition for dissolution of marriage; or
- (b) either the consenting person or the person to whom consent was given files an injunction for protection against the other under s. 741.30 (domestic violence), s. 741.315 (foreign protection orders), s. 784.046 (repeat, dating, or sexual violence), or s. 784.0485 (stalking).
This subsection is aimed directly at the domestic case. A tracker installed with a spouse's blessing during the marriage becomes unlawful the moment a dissolution petition is filed - and the investigator monitoring it is violating paragraph (2)(b).
3. The Eight Exceptions (s. 934.425(4), F.S.)
| Para. | Exception | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10, or any local, state, federal, or military law enforcement agency | Lawful installation, placement, or use as part of a criminal investigation |
| (b) | Correctional officer, correctional probation officer, or other Department of Corrections officer or support personnel | Person in his or her care, custody, or control, in the course and scope of employment |
| (c) | Juvenile probation officer or Department of Juvenile Justice designee or delinquency program staff | Same care-custody-control and scope-of-employment limits |
| (d) | A person authorized pursuant to a court order | - |
| (e) | Parent or legal guardian of a minor child, tracking the minor child's property | Only if: 1. the parents are lawfully married, not separated or living apart, and either consents; 2. the parent is the sole surviving parent or guardian; 3. the parent has sole custody; or 4. the parents are divorced, separated, or living apart and both consent |
| (f) | Caregiver of an elderly person or disabled adult (as defined in s. 825.101) | Only if the treating physician certifies that the tracking is necessary to ensure that person's safety |
| (g) | A person acting in good faith on behalf of a business entity for a legitimate business purpose | Does not apply to a person engaged in private investigation as defined in s. 493.6101 on behalf of another person unless the activity would otherwise be exempt under subsection (4) if performed by the person who engaged the investigator |
| (h) | An owner or lessee of a motor vehicle installing, placing, using, or directing tracking on that vehicle during the period of ownership or lease | The device must be removed before title transfer or lease expiration; or the new owner/lessor consents in writing to nonremoval; or the installer was the original manufacturer and the next owner was told the location and removal method before title transfer |
Paragraph (4)(g) is the rule that governs your practice
[!CAUTION] Section 934.425(4)(g) tells you exactly how a Florida private investigator gets authority to track: you do not have any of your own. Your authority is entirely derivative. The question is never "may a PI place a tracker?" It is: "would the person who hired me be exempt under subsection (4) if they did it themselves?" If the answer is yes, you may act for them. If no, you may not - and neither an indemnity agreement nor a client affidavit changes that.
Applied to the classic domestic case, the derivative test runs through paragraph (4)(h):
| Scenario | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Client is the sole owner or lessee of the vehicle | The client would qualify under (4)(h) during the ownership or lease period, so the investigator may act on the client's behalf under (4)(g) - unless consent is presumed revoked under subsection (3) |
| Client and subject are co-owners or co-lessees | The client is an owner of that vehicle for purposes of (4)(h), but the (3) presumption of revoked consent and the risk that the tracking is aimed at the co-owner rather than the vehicle make this legally fraught. Get counsel before acting |
| Subject is the sole owner or lessee | The client would not qualify under any exception, so neither does the investigator. Installing or using a tracker is a third-degree felony |
| Dissolution petition or protective injunction filed | Subsection (3) presumes consent revoked. Remove the device and stop monitoring. |
| Corporate fleet vehicle owned by the client company | The company is an owner under (4)(h) and a business entity under (4)(g). An investigator retained by the company may act because the company itself would be exempt |
| Employee's personally owned car used for work | The employer is not the owner. No exception applies |
Chapter 493 consequence
Section 493.6118(1)(y), F.S., makes the installation, placement, or use of a tracking device or tracking application in violation of s. 934.425 an independent ground for disciplinary action against your license. A single unlawful tracker therefore produces a felony charge and a license revocation proceeding.
4. Penalties (s. 934.425(5), F.S.)
| Conduct | Classification |
|---|---|
| Violation of s. 934.425 | Felony of the third degree (up to 5 years in state prison and a $5,000 fine) |
| Violation committed to commit a dangerous crime, or to facilitate the commission of a dangerous crime, as defined in s. 907.041(5)(a) | Felony of the second degree (up to 15 years and a $10,000 fine) |
[!WARNING] This penalty changed recently. Before the 2024 amendment, unlawful tracking was a second-degree misdemeanor. Chapter 2024-114, Laws of Florida, reclassified it as a third-degree felony, and chapters 2025-71 and 2025-81 amended the section further. Any study material, seminar handout, or online summary describing s. 934.425 as a misdemeanor punishable by 60 days and a $500 fine is out of date. Treat every tracking question as felony-grade.
Separately, a tracker deployed as part of a course of conduct directed at a specific person can supply the "follows, harasses, or cyberstalks" element of stalking under s. 784.048, F.S. - a first-degree misdemeanor, or aggravated stalking (a third-degree felony) where a credible threat, an injunction, or a victim under 16 is involved.
5. Digital Voyeurism (s. 810.145, F.S.)
Section 810.145 is now titled "Digital voyeurism." It reaches optical surveillance that intrudes on private space.
The offense (s. 810.145(2)(a))
A person commits digital voyeurism if that person:
- for his or her own amusement, entertainment, sexual arousal, gratification, or profit, or for the purpose of degrading, exploiting, or abusing another person, intentionally uses or installs an imaging device to secretly view, broadcast, or record a person, without that person's knowledge and consent, who is dressing, undressing, or privately exposing the body, at a place and time when that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy;
- intentionally permits the use or installation of an imaging device for the same purpose on behalf of another; or
- intentionally uses an imaging device to secretly view, broadcast, or record under or through the clothing being worn by another person, to view that person's body or undergarments.
Note the purpose element. Not every intrusive image is digital voyeurism - the state must prove one of the enumerated purposes, of which profit is one. A surveillance operator paid to obtain such imagery is squarely inside the "profit" category.
Key definitions (s. 810.145(1))
- "Imaging device" - any mechanical, digital, or electronic viewing device, still camera, camcorder, motion picture camera, or any other instrument, equipment, or format capable of recording, storing, or transmitting visual images of another person. Optics and binoculars used to view are covered; a recording is not required.
- "Reasonable expectation of privacy" - circumstances under which a reasonable person would believe he or she could fully disrobe in privacy without being viewed, recorded, or broadcast, including but not limited to the interior of a residential dwelling, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth.
- "Privately exposing the body" - exposing a sexual organ.
- "Position of authority or trust" - a person 18 or older who is a relative, caregiver, coach, employer, or other person able to exercise undue influence or exploit the victim's trust.
Penalty tiers
| Conduct | Classification |
|---|---|
| Digital voyeurism by an offender under 19 | Misdemeanor of the first degree (s. 810.145(2)(b)) |
| Digital voyeurism by an offender 19 or older | Felony of the third degree (s. 810.145(2)(c)) |
| Digital voyeurism dissemination - knowingly transferring such an image for amusement, arousal, gratification, or to degrade, exploit, or abuse | Felony of the third degree (s. 810.145(3)) |
| Commercial digital voyeurism dissemination - selling such an image, or transferring it to another for resale | Felony of the third degree (s. 810.145(4)) |
| Offender with a prior conviction or adjudication under the section | Felony of the second degree (s. 810.145(7)(a)) |
| Offender 19 or older who is a family or household member of the victim or holds a position of authority or trust | The felony is reclassified one degree higher, and ranked one level above its s. 921.0022 offense level (s. 810.145(7)(b)) |
Each instance counts separately. Section 810.145(6) makes each act of secretly viewing, and each broadcast, recording, dissemination, distribution, or transfer, a separate offense for which a separate penalty is authorized.
Statutory exceptions (s. 810.145(5))
The section does not apply to a law enforcement agency conducting surveillance for a law enforcement purpose; a security system where a written notice is conspicuously posted on the premises stating that video surveillance has been installed for security; a video surveillance device installed so that its presence is clearly and immediately obvious; or certain electronic communication and remote computing service providers. No private investigator exception exists.
6. Where the Optical Line Falls in the Field
- Lawful: photographing what is plainly visible to an ordinary observer from a lawful public vantage point - the subject carrying lumber across an open front yard, loading a truck in a driveway, walking into a gym.
- Unlawful: using magnification, elevation, drones, pole cameras, thermal, or night vision to reach into a dwelling interior, a bathroom, or a bedroom, or through gaps in blinds, where a reasonable person would believe he or she could fully disrobe in privacy.
- The doctrinal point: the Fourth Amendment cases investigators often cite - Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1 (2013), and Sarantopoulos v. State, 629 So. 2d 121 (Fla. 1993) - constrain government searches. They do not authorize private conduct. A private investigator's liability comes from the criminal statutes in chapters 810 and 934 and from civil intrusion-on-seclusion claims. Never argue that a Fourth Amendment case permits a private intrusion.
[!WARNING]
Exam traps in this section
- s. 934.425 is a third-degree felony, not a misdemeanor. Second-degree felony if used to commit or facilitate a dangerous crime under s. 907.041(5)(a).
- The statute prohibits using a tracker, not just installing one.
- Consent is presumed revoked on a dissolution filing or a protective injunction filing.
- The PI carve-out is s. 934.425(4)(g), and it makes your authority derivative of the client's.
- The parent exception is (4)(e) with four alternative conditions; the caregiver exception at (4)(f) requires a treating physician's certification.
- s. 810.145 is "digital voyeurism"; an offender 19 or older commits a third-degree felony, and commercial dissemination is also a third-degree felony - not second-degree.
What is the current criminal classification of a violation of s. 934.425, F.S., for installing a tracking device on another person's vehicle without consent?
A wife hires an investigator to place a GPS tracker on a vehicle titled and registered solely in her husband's name. She offers to sign an ownership affidavit and an indemnity agreement. What does s. 934.425 permit?
A husband consented two years ago to a tracking application on the family vehicle. His wife has now filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. What does s. 934.425(3), F.S., provide about the earlier consent?
A 40-year-old investigator, paid by a client, uses a telephoto lens to secretly record a subject undressing inside a bedroom through a gap in the blinds. Under s. 810.145, F.S., what offense is committed?