On Tuesday, Pennsylvania moved closer to joining the list of states that penalize those who track someone without their consent using a Bluetooth-enabled gadget.
By a vote of 199 to 1, the state House of Representatives approved legislation that would include the use of a tracking device to surreptitiously track another individual in Pennsylvania’s anti-stalking laws. The offense carries a potential 90-day prison sentence or a third-degree misdemeanor penalty.
The bill is headed to the Senate, where a different bill that would classify the offense as a second-degree misdemeanor and subject it to a maximum two-year jail sentence is now waiting.
While some states are introducing it, the majority of states already have a state law provision that forbids remote tracking. Such legislation is being considered by Ohio, Florida is toughening up on the penalty for using these kinds of devices, and Kentucky has passed a new law.
Some tech firms have developed Bluetooth-controlled devices, or mobile apps loaded on smartphones can be used to surreptitiously follow the activities of an individual.
The House bill was passed on Tuesday, following several weeks in which a federal judge rejected Apple’s attempt to have a class-action lawsuit against the tech company dismissed on the grounds that the company had not gone far enough in stopping stalkers from tracking victims via its AirTag devices.
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However, AirTags and other tracking devices have also been used by stalkers. In 2022, dozens of plaintiffs sued Apple, claiming that the company had been stalked by AirTag users.
Its safety safeguards are insufficient, they claimed, and Apple ought to have taken more steps to shield victims after AirTags “revolutionized the scope, breadth, and ease of location-based stalking.”
Apple has denounced the usage of the product for harmful purposes. It contended in court that it shouldn’t be held accountable for harm brought about by outside parties as it “took proactive steps” to discourage misuse.
Apple and Google collaborated last year to establish guidelines for thwarting covert monitoring through the use of tracking devices.
