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Apple AirTag and GPS tracking would be restricted under Ohio bill

An Apple AirTag on a keychain.
Daniel Romero
/
Unsplash
An Apple AirTag on a keychain.

Small, inexpensive tracking devices including Apple AirTags and other GPS trackers can help you find your purse or keys but some criminals are using that technology to track people without their knowledge. There’s a bill in the Ohio legislature to crack down on tracking people without their knowledge.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said her bill would continue to allow parents to use tracking devices like AirTags or apps to monitor kids or older people with dementia.

“The problem is when someone puts an air tag on either your person or in your purse without someone’s knowledge because then it becomes an electronic tracking device,” she said.

The bill aims to stop stalking and has exemptions for police or businesses that use the devices properly, Antonio said. It would be a first-degree misdemeanor if someone is found to be using the devices illegally.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.