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

Most states treat a first-offense hidden GPS tracker as a misdemeanor, if they ban it at all. Hawaii does not. Put a tracker on a car you do not own in Hawaii and you are looking at a Class C felony, with up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

That makes Hawaii one of the harshest GPS tracking states in the country, and almost nobody knows it. The ban does not live in the stalking chapter where most people look. It is buried in Hawaii's wiretap law, in the same section that criminalizes intercepting phone calls.

This guide walks through what HRS 803-42(a)(8) actually says, who can legally track a vehicle, what the law means for AirTags, 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 Hawaii?

Only if you own the car, or the owner says yes. For everyone else, the answer is a hard no, and the consequences are far more serious than most people expect.

Hawaii Revised Statutes section 803-42(a)(8) makes it a crime to intentionally install or use a mobile tracking device without first obtaining a search warrant or other court order, unless the device is installed by or with the consent of the owner of the property on which the device is installed.

Read that exception carefully. It does not ask whether you have a good reason. It does not care if the target is your spouse, your ex, or your adult child. The only questions are whether a judge authorized the device, or whether the owner of the property consented.

Violate the section and you are guilty of a Class C felony. Not a petty misdemeanor, not a citation. A felony, on the first offense.

Hawaii's Hidden Felony: HRS 803-42(a)(8)

Most aggregator sites miss this law entirely, and it is easy to see why. Hawaii has no statute titled "GPS tracking." Instead, the legislature folded mobile tracking devices into Part IV of chapter 803, the electronic eavesdropping part of Hawaii's criminal procedure code, back when it modernized the wiretap law.

Section 803-42(a) lists eight prohibited acts. The first seven cover intercepting calls, disclosing intercepted communications, hacking stored messages, and using pen registers. The eighth covers tracking devices. Every one of them carries the same penalty: a Class C felony.

The companion section, HRS 803-44.7, spells out how police get permission. Officers must apply to a designated circuit court judge, show probable cause that the device will turn up evidence of a crime, and accept a 60-day limit on the order, with extensions only on a fresh showing of probable cause.

There is a definitional wrinkle worth knowing. HRS 803-41 defines a "tracking device" as an electronic or mechanical device that permits tracking the movement of a person or object, but it excludes a device installed in a vehicle by or with the permission of the owner or person in lawful possession of that vehicle. So a tracker placed in a car with the consent of either the titled owner or the person lawfully driving it generally falls outside the crime.

Federal law points the same direction. In United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012), the U.S. Supreme Court held that attaching a GPS device to a vehicle and using it to monitor the vehicle's movements is a Fourth Amendment search. Hawaii just goes further than most states by making the private version of that conduct a felony.

Who Can Legally Track a Vehicle in Hawaii

The exceptions are narrow, and they all run through ownership or a court order.

You own the vehicle. If the car is titled in your name, you are the owner of the property the device is installed on, and your own consent satisfies the statute. That covers tracking your own car after a string of break-ins, or a tracker you install before lending the car out.

You co-own the vehicle. A spouse whose name is on the title has an ownership interest, which is why tracking a jointly titled family car sits differently than tracking a car titled solely to your spouse. Tracking a vehicle titled only in the other spouse's name, without their knowledge, is exactly the conduct the felony statute describes. Divorce suspicion is not an exception.

The owner or lawful possessor consents. Hawaii's definition extends to consent from the person in lawful possession, which covers situations like a lessee agreeing to a fleet tracker.

Law enforcement with a warrant. Police can track a suspect's vehicle, but only with a warrant or court order under HRS 803-44.7, or in a designated bait vehicle.

Notice what is missing. There is no parent exception. A parent who owns the car their teenager drives is covered as the owner, but Hawaii's statute does not bless tracking a child's property the parent does not own. There is also no private investigator exception. A PI who plants a tracker on a target's car in Hawaii commits the same Class C felony as anyone else, and so does the client who hires them to do it.

Can My Employer Track My Car in Hawaii?

Hawaii has no statute requiring employers to give notice before GPS tracking, and no statute that specifically restricts employer tracking. The analysis runs through the same ownership rule as everything else.

If you drive a company-owned vehicle, your employer owns the property the tracker is installed on, so the felony statute does not apply. Fleet tracking of company trucks and vans is lawful in Hawaii, and it is standard practice.

Your personal car is a different story. An employer who hides a tracker on an employee's personally owned vehicle has installed a device on property it does not own, without the owner's consent. That is squarely within HRS 803-42(a)(8). An employer that wants location data from your personal vehicle needs your actual consent, which in practice means a signed agreement, often tied to mileage reimbursement apps or telematics programs you opt into.

AirTags and Item Trackers in Hawaii

Apple AirTags, Tiles, and similar item trackers are cheap, tiny, and heavily used in stalking cases nationwide. Hawaii's statute reaches them the same way it reaches a hardwired GPS unit. The law covers any electronic or mechanical device that permits tracking the movement of a person or object, and it covers using the device, not just installing it.

Slip an AirTag into someone's bag, jacket, or car without consent and you have installed a tracking device on property you do not own. The statute does not require the device to be attached to a vehicle.

One persistent myth needs correcting here. In 2024, Hawaii lawmakers introduced HB2014, a bill that would have created a specific misdemeanor for using a location tracker to harass, stalk, or perpetrate a crime against another person. Some websites describe it as if it became law. It did not. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee on January 24, 2024, never received a hearing, and died when the session ended.

The practical upshot is counterintuitive: because HB2014 failed, secret tracking in Hawaii is not a new misdemeanor. It remains an old felony.

Tracking someone with an AirTag can also support a charge of harassment by stalking under HRS 711-1106.5, which covers a course of conduct involving pursuit, surveillance, or nonconsensual contact on more than one occasion. Cross state lines or use the mails or internet as part of a campaign that puts someone in fear, and federal stalking under 18 U.S.C. 2261A can come into play as well.

Penalties for Illegal GPS Tracking in Hawaii

Hawaii sentences felonies with indeterminate terms. A Class C conviction means the court imposes the full five-year maximum under HRS 706-660 and the Hawaii Paroling Authority sets the minimum served. The $10,000 fine ceiling comes from HRS 706-640.

A felony record in Hawaii also carries the usual collateral consequences: loss of firearm rights, immigration exposure for non-citizens, and serious problems with professional licensing and employment.

Civil Remedies and the Hawaii Privacy Right

Hawaii's wiretap chapter includes a civil action, HRS 803-48, that lets people whose communications were unlawfully intercepted sue for damages. Whether that section reaches location tracking, which involves no intercepted communication, is genuinely uncertain, and Hawaii's appellate courts have not settled it.

Tracking victims are not without civil options, though. Hawaii recognizes the tort of intrusion upon seclusion, and a hidden tracker that logs everywhere you go is a strong fit for that claim. Hawaii is also one of the few states with an express constitutional privacy right: Article I, section 6 of the Hawaii Constitution declares that the right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed without a compelling state interest.

If the tracking is part of a harassment or stalking pattern, you can petition for a protective order. Our guide to Hawaii restraining order laws covers the process, including the district court injunction against harassment that does not require a domestic relationship.

What to Do If You Find a Tracker on Your Car

1. Do not destroy it. The device is evidence, and it may carry fingerprints, a serial number, or an account registration that identifies who planted it.
2. Photograph it in place. Capture where it was hidden, the wheel well, bumper, or OBD port, before anyone touches it.
3. Call the police. What you found is potential evidence of a Class C felony. Ask for a report number and tell the officer about HRS 803-42 if they are unfamiliar with it.
4. If you get an AirTag alert, follow it. iPhones alert you to unknown AirTags traveling with you, and Android users can scan with Apple's detection app. The alert screen shows the tag's serial number, which Apple can tie to its owner for law enforcement.
5. Consider a protective order if you have any idea who placed it, especially an ex-partner.
6. Get a sweep if you are worried about more. A mechanic can check the OBD port and wiring; stalkers rarely stop at one method.

GPS tracking is only one strand of surveillance law in the islands. For audio and video rules, see our guide to Hawaii recording laws, and for camera placement see surveillance camera laws by state. To compare how other states handle trackers, start with GPS Tracking Laws by State.

Sources

• HRS 803-42: Interception, access, and disclosure prohibited; mobile tracking devices (Hawaii State Legislature)
• HRS 803-41: Definitions, including tracking device (Hawaii State Legislature)
• HRS 803-44.7: Application for authorization to install and use a mobile tracking device (Hawaii State Legislature)
• HRS 711-1106.5: Harassment by stalking (Hawaii State Legislature)
• HB2014 (2024): Location tracker harassment bill, measure status (Hawaii State Legislature)
• 18 U.S.C. 2261A, Stalking (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
• United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012) (Cornell Legal Information Institute)

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts. If you found a tracker, are being stalked, or face a criminal charge, talk to a licensed Hawaii attorney, and call 911 if you are in immediate danger.