Unauthorized use of electronic tracking device
VA tracking device
Location
Makes it a crime to deceptively place a GPS or other electronic tracking device without consent and use it to track a person's location. Fleet owners and electronic communications providers that disclose tracking in their terms or privacy policy are exempt.
- Where
- Virginia
- Citation
- Va. Code § 18.2-60.5
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2013-07-01
- Last amended
- 2022-07-01
- Enforced by
- Criminal prosecution
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Class 1 misdemeanor (18.2-60.5(A)).
- Applies to
- Any person who deceptively and without consent installs or places a tracking device on another person or their property, with exceptions for law enforcement, parents of minors, representatives of vulnerable adults, fleet owners, disclosed provider uses, and licensed private investigators with owner consent (18.2-60.5(B))
What a privacy notice must say
- Communications providers are exempt only where the tracking is disclosed in their terms of use, privacy policy, or similar customer document.Va. Code § 18.2-60.5(B)(5)
Practices it requires
- Do not install or place an electronic tracking device through deceptive means and without consent and use it to track a person.Va. Code § 18.2-60.5(A)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective dates inferred from Virginia's default July 1 effective date for regular-session acts (history notes); enacting bill pages not checked. History: 2013, c. 434; 2020, c. 140; 2022, cc. 259, 642.
Research reference, not legal advice.