Antonio Testifies on Bill to Prohibit Installing Tracking Devices Without Consent

Today, state Senator Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) provided sponsor testimony on Senate Bill 100 with joint sponsor Senator Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville), which would generally prohibit the installation of an electronic tracking device on someone else’s property without the other person’s consent. 

“Right now, Ohio’s stalking code does not include the use of electronic tracking devices,” Antonio said. “Clearly, that law was put into the code long before we ever had small electronic tracking devices, like Apple AirTags, thus the application of the law is inconsistent. These easily accessible and relatively inexpensive devices have plenty of useful purposes, but should never be used without consent. Ohioans deserve protection from all forms of stalking, especially as technology continues to evolve.”

The idea for this legislation came from a WKYC story involving Kar’mell Triplett, a woman from Akron who unknowingly had an AirTag attached to her car that tracked her movements for 24 hours.

The bill is a reintroduction of Senate Bill 339 from the last General Assembly. Under current law, stalking and menacing statutes are relied upon to address cases of unwanted tracking. However, the current statute regarding tracking is unclear when it comes to defining a “pattern of conduct” with an electronic device. 

Senate Bill 100 now awaits further hearings in the Senate Financial Institutions and Technology Committee.