Alaska GPS Tracking Laws: Is It Legal to Put a Tracker on a Car? (2026)

GPS trackers are cheap, tiny, and easy to hide under a bumper. In Alaska, the question of whether you can legally put one on a car comes up constantly in divorces, custody fights, and bad breakups, and the answer is not a simple yes or no.

Here is the honest starting point: Alaska has no statute that makes the single act of placing a tracker on a vehicle a crime. What Alaska does have is a stalking law that names GPS monitoring as a form of nonconsensual contact. Track someone repeatedly in a way that puts them in fear, and you have committed a crime.

This guide explains where the legal line sits, who can track a vehicle legally, what penalties apply, and what to do if you find a tracker on your own car.

Is It Legal to Put a GPS Tracker on a Car in Alaska?

It depends on whose car it is and whether the owner agrees. Tracking a vehicle you own or co-own is generally legal. Hiding a tracker on someone else's car without permission is where the trouble starts.

Unlike states that passed dedicated electronic tracking crimes, Alaska never created a standalone tracker-placement offense. There is no Alaska statute titled unlawful use of a tracking device. That means one isolated act of attaching a tracker, viewed alone, usually does not match the elements of any Alaska crime.

That is not a green light. The moment GPS tracking becomes repeated and frightening, it falls squarely under Alaska's stalking statute, which calls out GPS monitoring by name. Even short of criminal charges, a hidden tracker can support a stalking protective order and a civil invasion of privacy lawsuit.

Alaska's Stalking Law Covers GPS Monitoring (AS 11.41.270)

Alaska's main anti-tracking tool is stalking in the second degree. Under AS 11.41.270, a person commits the crime by knowingly engaging in a course of conduct that recklessly places another person in fear of death or physical injury, or in fear for a family member. It is a Class A misdemeanor.

The statute defines a course of conduct as repeated acts of nonconsensual contact. The list of what counts as nonconsensual contact is specific, and it includes following or monitoring a person with a global positioning device or similar technological means. The legislature wrote GPS tracking directly into the stalking law.

So a prosecutor needs three things. First, repeated acts: a hidden tracker reports location continuously, and checking that feed day after day gives the state a strong argument that the monitoring happened over and over, not once. Second, lack of consent. Third, that the conduct recklessly placed the victim in fear of death or physical injury.

That last element matters. Planting a tracker once, with no other contact and no resulting fear, does not satisfy the statute. Alaska law requires a pattern plus fear, not a single act. In real cases, though, trackers rarely show up in isolation: they arrive alongside unwanted texts, drive-bys, and turning up wherever the victim goes, and that combination is exactly what AS 11.41.270 punishes.

Stalking in the first degree under AS 11.41.260 covers the same conduct with an aggravating factor. The charge becomes a Class C felony when the stalking violates a protective order, occurs while the defendant is on release conditions, targets a victim under 16, involves possession of a deadly weapon, or follows a prior stalking conviction.

Who Can Legally Track a Vehicle in Alaska

Several categories of tracking are lawful because the consent or ownership element is satisfied:

• Vehicle owners. You can put a tracker on your own car. Owner consent means the contact is not nonconsensual.
• Co-owners, with caution. If your name is on the title, tracking the vehicle is generally defensible. But using a jointly titled car to monitor a spouse during a separation can still feed a stalking case or protective order, and family court judges take it badly.
• Parents and guardians. Tracking a minor child's vehicle or phone is legal.
• Employers on company vehicles. Businesses may track fleet vehicles they own.
• Lenders and dealers. Auto lenders often install GPS units with the buyer's written consent in the financing contract.
• Police with a warrant. In United States v. Jones (2012), the US Supreme Court held that attaching a GPS device to a vehicle and monitoring its movements is a Fourth Amendment search, so law enforcement generally needs a warrant first.

Can My Employer Track My Car in Alaska?

Alaska has no statute regulating employer GPS tracking, so the default rules apply.

On a company-owned vehicle, tracking is generally legal even without notice, although clear written policies are the norm and the better practice. The employer owns the asset and consents to its own monitoring.

Your personal vehicle is different. An employer who hides a tracker on an employee's own car without consent has the same exposure as anyone else: the stalking statute if monitoring is repeated and fear-inducing, plus a civil invasion of privacy claim. Tracking apps on a personal phone require your consent, though declining may carry job consequences in an at-will state like Alaska.

AirTags and Item Trackers in Alaska

Apple AirTags, Tiles, and similar Bluetooth trackers follow the same rules as hardwired GPS units. The stalking statute's phrase global positioning device or similar technological means is broad enough to cover an AirTag slipped into a bag, coat pocket, or wheel well.

Using an item tracker to repeatedly monitor a person without consent, in a way that puts them in fear, is stalking in the second degree. Both Apple and Android phones now push unwanted tracker alerts when an unknown AirTag travels with you, and those alerts have become common evidence in stalking investigations.

Federal law adds another layer. Under 18 U.S.C. 2261A, using an electronic device to surveil someone across state lines with intent to harass, intimidate, or place them in fear is interstate stalking, a federal felony. That statute can reach tracking that follows a victim from Alaska to another state.

Penalties for Illegal GPS Tracking in Alaska

The jail and fine caps come from Alaska's general sentencing statutes, AS 12.55.135 and AS 12.55.125 for imprisonment and AS 12.55.035 for fines. A stalking conviction also commonly brings probation conditions barring any contact with the victim, including electronic monitoring of any kind.

Civil Lawsuits and Protective Orders

Alaska has no statute creating a specific civil claim for GPS tracking. Victims instead rely on common law torts: intrusion upon seclusion (a branch of invasion of privacy) and, where the conduct is extreme, intentional infliction of emotional distress. A successful suit can recover damages for the intrusion itself and the emotional harm it caused.

The faster remedy is a protective order. Under AS 18.65.850, anyone who reasonably believes they are a victim of stalking can petition the district or superior court for a stalking protective order, even if the stalker is a stranger rather than a partner. The court can issue a short-term ex parte order quickly, then a longer-term order after a hearing where the respondent gets notice and a chance to respond. The Alaska Court System publishes the petition forms and instructions (form CIV-751) on its website.

If the person tracking you is a spouse, ex, or household member, the case usually proceeds as a domestic violence protective order instead. Our guide to Alaska restraining order laws walks through that process.

What to Do If You Find a GPS Tracker on Your Car

1. Do not destroy it. The device is evidence, and it may carry fingerprints, a serial number, or account data investigators can trace.
2. Photograph it in place before touching anything, showing exactly where it was mounted.
3. Call local police or the Alaska State Troopers. Ask for a report number even if no arrest happens immediately. The report builds the course of conduct record a stalking charge needs.
4. Check your phone for tracker alerts. Apple and Android both flag unknown Bluetooth trackers traveling with you.
5. Have a mechanic sweep the vehicle, including wheel wells, the OBD port, and under the dash, since hardwired units hide deeper than magnetic ones.
6. Consider a protective order under AS 18.65.850 if you know or suspect who placed it.

You are allowed to remove a tracker from your own vehicle. The safer move is handing it to police rather than throwing it away, both for your case and because destroying someone else's property can create needless complications.

FAQ

Related Guides

• GPS Tracking Laws by State compares tracker rules across all 50 states.
• Alaska Recording Laws covers the one-party consent rule for audio and video.
• Surveillance Camera Laws by State explains the camera side of vehicle and property monitoring.
• Alaska Restraining Order Laws walks through protective orders step by step.

Sources

• AS 11.41.270, Stalking in the Second Degree, Alaska State Legislature
• AS 11.41.260, Stalking in the First Degree, Alaska State Legislature
• AS 18.65.850, Protective Orders for Stalking and Sexual Assault, Alaska State Legislature
• Alaska Court System, Stalking and Sexual Assault Protective Order Instructions (CIV-751)
• United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012), Supreme Court of the United States
• 18 U.S.C. 2261A, Stalking, Legal Information Institute

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Laws change and every situation is different. If you are dealing with unwanted tracking or facing criminal charges, consult a licensed Alaska attorney. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.