The bill makes it easier for stalking victims to prosecute remote-tracking and revoked-consent cases by defining 'geotracking device' and 'unauthorized,' but that clarity may also sweep common consumer devices into criminal coverage and impose new constraints on law-enforcement use of location tracking.
Stalking victims (including many women and survivors of intimate partner violence) gain clearer legal protection to pursue remote-tracking offenses because the bill defines 'geotracking device' and makes 'unauthorized' include revoked consent, enabling prosecutors to bring cases that were previously legally uncertain.
Users of smartphones, wearables, and other common location-enabled consumer devices could be unintentionally brought under criminal prohibitions because the bill's broad 'geotracking device' definition may encompass everyday devices, increasing legal ambiguity and risk of overcriminalization.
Law enforcement agencies could face added procedural limits or heightened scrutiny when using location tracking in investigations, potentially complicating or slowing some inquiries that rely on geolocation evidence.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds definitions for “geotracking device” and “unauthorized” to the federal stalking statute and restructures the statute’s opening text to clarify coverage of remote tracking.
Amends the federal stalking statute (18 U.S.C. § 2261A) to restructure the text and add two definitions: “geotracking device” (a device that permits remote determination or tracking of another person’s position and movement) and “unauthorized” (use without the subject’s consent or after consent was revoked). The change clarifies that remote tracking devices and nonconsensual tracking fall within the statute’s scope. The bill does not create new penalties, funding, or additional duties for agencies; it only revises statutory language and definitions to clarify which tracking conduct the law covers.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Emilia Strong Sykes · Last progress February 27, 2025