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

A GPS tracker the size of a matchbox can report a car's location every few seconds for weeks. In New York, hiding one on someone else's vehicle is not handled as a privacy violation or a civil dispute. The Penal Law treats that tracking as a form of "following," which is conduct inside the crime of stalking, an offense that starts as a misdemeanor and climbs to a felony fast. Whether a particular tracker completes the crime depends on the rest of the statute's elements, which the sections below set out.

New York got here the hard way. The state added GPS tracking to its stalking law in 2014 after a Buffalo woman named Jackie Wisniewski was murdered by an ex who had hidden a GPS device in her car. The amendment is known as Jackie's Law.

This guide is part of our GPS Tracking Laws by State series. It covers who can legally track a vehicle in New York, what employers can and cannot do, AirTag rules, the penalty ladder, and why suing the tracker is harder here than in almost any other state.

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

Only if you have the authority or the consent to do it. New York never passed a standalone electronic tracking device statute the way California or Texas did. Instead, the Legislature folded GPS tracking directly into the crime of stalking.

That choice matters. It means the legality of a tracker in New York turns on two questions: was the tracking authorized, and does the conduct fit the stalking statute's elements?

Here is how the common scenarios shake out:

• Your own car, registered to you: Legal. You can track your own property.
• Your spouse's separate car: Risky to illegal. If the car is not yours and your spouse has not consented, hidden tracking is exactly what Jackie's Law was written to punish.
• A jointly owned car: A gray area. Ownership gives you a consent argument, but if the tracking is part of a pattern that frightens or harms the other person, prosecutors can still build a stalking case.
• Your teenager's car: Generally legal. Parents have authority over their minor children, and tracking a 16-year-old's driving is not "unauthorized" in the way the statute means.
• An employee's personal car: Risky. Cunningham let a government employer track an employee's personal car during business hours without a warrant, but held the search unreasonable because the employer made no reasonable effort to avoid tracking evenings, weekends and vacation. More on the Cunningham case below.
• A company vehicle: Legal. The employer owns the asset and consents to its own tracking.
• A private investigator tracking someone for a client: No exemption. New York's stalking law contains no carve-out for licensed PIs.

If you only remember one rule, make it this one: in New York, secretly tracking a person who has not consented counts as "following" them under the stalking statute. Following is not the whole offense on its own, and the next section walks through the other elements Penal Law 120.45(2) requires, but the tracking itself is the conduct the Legislature amended the statute to reach.

Jackie's Law: GPS Tracking Is Stalking (Penal Law 120.45(2))

Stalking in the fourth degree under Penal Law 120.45 punishes an intentional course of conduct directed at a specific person that the actor knows, or reasonably should know, causes harm or fear. Subdivision (2) covers conduct that causes material harm to the victim's mental or emotional health, where the conduct consists of following, telephoning, or contacting the person after being clearly told to stop.

Jackie's Law, effective in 2014, added the sentence that changed everything for GPS cases. For purposes of that subdivision, "following" includes "the unauthorized tracking of such person's movements or location through the use of a global positioning system or other device."

Three things stand out in that language:

It says "or other device." The statute is not limited to a hockey-puck GPS unit bolted under a bumper. AirTags, Tiles, OBD-port trackers, and location-sharing apps installed without permission all fit.

It turns on "unauthorized." Consent defeats the charge. That is why owners tracking their own vehicles, employers tracking company trucks, and parents tracking minor children are generally outside the statute.

It does not require physical proximity. Traditional stalking required the stalker to show up. A tracker lets someone follow a victim from a couch miles away, and the statute now captures that squarely.

Lawmakers have kept pushing to widen the net. Senate Bill S5505 passed the Senate in 2024, and its successor S3519 in the 2025-2026 session would expand "following" to cover spyware, software, and app-based tracking in more situations. As of mid-2026, that broader language has not been enacted. The 2014 GPS language is the law on the books.

Who Can Legally Track a Vehicle in New York

Because the crime requires unauthorized tracking, authority and consent are everything.

Vehicle owners. You can put a tracker on a car you own. Recovery devices, theft trackers, and insurance telematics on your own vehicle are lawful.

Parents of minors. Tracking your minor child, including the car you bought them, is generally within a parent's authority. Once the child turns 18, that authority evaporates, and tracking an adult child without consent is analyzed like tracking any other adult.

Employers, on company vehicles. A business can track its own fleet. Drivers of company trucks, vans, and pool cars should assume the vehicle reports its location.

Anyone with genuine consent. Couples who voluntarily share locations through Find My or Life360 are consenting. Note that consent can be withdrawn, and tracking that continues after someone says stop is precisely the fact pattern the statute describes.

Not private investigators. This surprises people. Some states let licensed PIs plant trackers for clients. New York does not. A PI who hides a GPS unit on a target's car has no statutory defense and faces the same stalking exposure as the client who hired them.

Police, only with a warrant. In People v. Weaver (2009), the New York Court of Appeals held that police attachment and monitoring of a GPS device on a suspect's van was a search under the State Constitution and required a warrant. New York reached that conclusion nearly three years before the U.S. Supreme Court followed suit nationally in United States v. Jones (2012).

Can My Employer Track My Car in New York?

It depends entirely on whose car it is.

Company vehicles: yes. The employer owns the vehicle and can monitor it. New York adds a notice obligation for other kinds of monitoring: since May 7, 2022, Civil Rights Law 52-c requires private employers to give written notice, acknowledged by the employee, before monitoring telephone calls, email, or internet usage. That statute speaks to electronic communications and does not squarely cover vehicle GPS, but careful New York employers fold vehicle tracking into the same written disclosures anyway.

Your personal car: only within tight limits. The key decision is Matter of Cunningham v. New York State Department of Labor, 21 N.Y.3d 515 (2013), which let a government employer GPS-track an employee's personal car without a warrant during business hours but held the search unreasonable because it made no reasonable effort to avoid tracking him outside business hours. State investigators, suspecting a Department of Labor employee of falsifying time sheets, secretly attached a GPS unit to his personal family car and tracked it for a month, including evenings, weekends, and several days of vacation.

The Court of Appeals held the search was unreasonable. It accepted that a workplace investigation could justify GPS tracking of the car without a warrant, but found that tracking the employee around the clock "examined much activity with which the State had no legitimate concern." The GPS evidence was suppressed and the charges that depended on it were dismissed.

Cunningham involved a government employer, so it was decided on constitutional grounds. But its message reaches further: an employer that hides a tracker on a worker's personal vehicle, especially one that runs outside work hours, is far outside any safe harbor, and a private employer doing the same risks a stalking complaint from the employee.

Workplace surveillance questions rarely stop at GPS. Our guides to New York recording laws and surveillance camera laws cover the audio and video side of the same problem.

AirTags and Item Trackers in New York

Jackie's Law was written in 2014, before the AirTag existed, but its "GPS or other device" language covers item trackers without strain. Dropping an AirTag into someone's bag or magnet-mounting a Tile in a wheel well is unauthorized tracking of that person's movements, and prosecutors around the state have charged AirTag cases under the stalking statutes.

Two practical notes:

• The alerts work both ways. iPhones notify you when an unknown AirTag travels with you, and Android phones detect Bluetooth trackers through built-in unknown-tracker alerts. Treat an alert seriously, especially during a breakup or custody dispute.
• Federal law backs up state law. The federal stalking statute, 18 U.S.C. 2261A, reaches anyone who uses an electronic communication system or electronic device to engage in a course of conduct that causes fear or substantial emotional distress, with penalties starting at five years. Interstate tracking cases can go federal.

Penalties: New York's Stalking Ladder

GPS tracking enters the Penal Law at stalking in the fourth degree, but the charge climbs quickly when aggravating facts appear.

What moves a case up the ladder:

• Stalking 3rd: stalking in the fourth degree against three or more people in three or more separate transactions for which the actor has not previously been convicted; stalking in the fourth degree by someone convicted within the preceding ten years of a "specified predicate crime" listed in Penal Law 120.40(5), where the victim of that earlier crime is the current victim or that victim's immediate family member; stalking in the fourth degree by someone convicted of stalking in the fourth degree within the preceding ten years; or a course of conduct intended to harass, annoy or alarm that is likely to make the victim reasonably fear physical injury, a sex offense, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment or death.
• Stalking 2nd: stalking in the third degree under Penal Law 120.50(3) while displaying a weapon, or possessing one and threatening its use; that same third-degree conduct by someone convicted within the preceding five years of a "specified predicate crime" under Penal Law 120.40(5), where the victim of that earlier crime is the current victim or an immediate family member; stalking in the fourth degree by someone previously convicted of stalking in the third degree as defined in Penal Law 120.50(4); an adult 21 or older repeatedly following or frightening a child under 14; or third-degree conduct against ten or more people in ten or more separate transactions.
• Stalking 1st: stalking that intentionally or recklessly causes physical injury to the victim, or that is committed together with a specified sex offense.

A hidden tracker is rarely the whole story in these prosecutions. It usually appears alongside texts, showing up at the victim's locations, and violations of protective orders, and each layer pushes the charge higher. Violating an order of protection also supports separate criminal contempt charges.

Why Suing Is Hard in New York

In many states, a tracking victim can sue for invasion of privacy and collect damages. New York is the great exception.

Since Roberson v. Rochester Folding Box Co. in 1902, New York courts have refused to recognize a common-law privacy tort. The Legislature responded narrowly: Civil Rights Law 50 and 51 prohibit only the commercial use of a person's name, portrait, or likeness without consent. A hidden GPS tracker is not a commercial appropriation, so these sections do not help a tracking victim.

There is no New York equivalent of California's $5,000 statutory privacy claim. A victim might assert intentional infliction of emotional distress in an extreme case, but that tort is notoriously difficult to win.

The practical consequence: New York tracking victims get their protection from the criminal system and the family courts, not from civil damage awards. That makes reporting the tracker and pursuing an order of protection more important here than almost anywhere else. Our guide to New York restraining order laws walks through who qualifies and how the process works.

What to Do If You Find a Tracker on Your Car

1. Photograph it in place before touching it. Wide shots and close-ups. Location on the vehicle, serial numbers, and any visible labels are all evidence.
2. Think before you remove it. If the person who planted it is dangerous, removal tells them you know. Domestic violence advocates often recommend talking to police first and leaving the device temporarily so officers can document it.
3. File a police report. Bring the photos and the device if you removed it. Identify any person who has threatened you or refused to accept the end of a relationship.
4. Pursue an order of protection. Family Court can issue orders against current or former spouses, intimate partners, and family members, and stalking is a qualifying offense. Criminal court orders follow from charges.
5. Check your phone and accounts too. Trackers travel with location-sharing apps, compromised iCloud or Google accounts, and connected-car apps. Change passwords, review device lists, and check who has access to the car's manufacturer app.
6. Call for help if you are in danger. The New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline is 1-800-942-6906, available 24/7.

Sources

• N.Y. Penal Law 120.45 - Stalking in the fourth degree (Jackie's Law GPS definition)
• N.Y. Penal Law 120.50 - Stalking in the third degree
• N.Y. Penal Law 120.55 - Stalking in the second degree
• N.Y. Penal Law 120.40 - Definitions, including "specified predicate crime"
• N.Y. Penal Law 120.60 - Stalking in the first degree
• N.Y. Civil Rights Law 52-c - Notice of electronic monitoring by employers
• N.Y. Civil Rights Law 51 - Action for use of name, portrait or picture
• People v. Weaver, 12 N.Y.3d 433 (2009)
• Matter of Cunningham v. New York State Dept. of Labor, 21 N.Y.3d 515 (2013)
• United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012)
• 18 U.S.C. 2261A - Federal stalking statute
• NY Senate Bill S3519 (2025-2026) - Proposed expansion of the 'following' definition

Disclaimer: This article is legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and every situation is different. If you are dealing with unwanted tracking, stalking, or a family law dispute involving a GPS device, consult a licensed New York attorney. If you are in immediate danger, call 911, or reach the New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline at 1-800-942-6906.

More New York Laws

• New York Dashcam Laws
• New York Data Privacy Laws
• New York Drone Laws
• New York Employee Monitoring Laws
• New York Recording Laws
• New York Restraining Order Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it illegal to put a GPS tracker on someone's car in New York?

It can be, and it is the fact pattern the statute was written for. Under Jackie's Law, Penal Law 120.45(2) treats unauthorized GPS tracking of a person's movements or location as 'following' them. A fourth degree stalking charge under that subdivision also requires that the course of conduct cause material harm to the victim's mental or emotional health and that the actor was previously clearly informed to stop, so tracking alone is not automatically the completed crime. The base offense is a Class B misdemeanor and the charge escalates with aggravating facts.

Can I put a GPS tracker on my spouse's car during a divorce?

If the car is yours or jointly owned, you have a consent argument, but it is a dangerous play. If your spouse feels followed and harmed by the tracking, prosecutors can still pursue stalking charges, and judges in custody cases react badly to covert surveillance. If the car is solely your spouse's, hidden tracking is exactly what the statute punishes. Talk to a divorce attorney before considering it.

Can parents track their child's car in New York?

Generally yes, while the child is a minor. A parent's tracking of their own minor child is not the 'unauthorized' tracking the stalking statute targets. Once the child turns 18, they are a legal adult, and tracking them without consent is treated like tracking anyone else.

Can a private investigator legally use a GPS tracker in New York?

No. New York's stalking statute contains no exemption for licensed private investigators. A PI who plants a tracker on a subject's vehicle without the owner's consent faces the same criminal exposure as anyone else, and so can the client who directed it.

Can my employer put a GPS tracker on my personal car?

It depends on the scope. In Matter of Cunningham v. New York State Department of Labor (2013), the Court of Appeals held that a government employer could GPS-track an employee's personal car without a warrant during business hours, but that tracking it around the clock for a month, including evenings, weekends and a vacation, made the search unreasonable. Company-owned vehicles are different: employers can track their own fleet, and written monitoring disclosures under Civil Rights Law 52-c are standard practice.

Do police need a warrant to GPS-track a car in New York?

Yes. The New York Court of Appeals held in People v. Weaver (2009) that attaching and monitoring a GPS device is a search under the State Constitution requiring a warrant, and the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same result under the Fourth Amendment in United States v. Jones (2012).

What should I do if my iPhone alerts me that an AirTag is traveling with me?

Use the alert to play a sound and locate the tracker, photograph it where you find it, and contact police. The alert screen can display the tag's serial number, which law enforcement can use to identify the registered owner through Apple. If you are dealing with an abusive ex, contact a domestic violence advocate before confronting anyone.

Can I sue someone for secretly tracking me in New York?

It is harder than in most states. New York recognizes no common-law invasion of privacy tort, and Civil Rights Law 50 and 51 cover only commercial use of your name or likeness. Most victims instead pursue criminal charges and orders of protection. An intentional infliction of emotional distress claim is possible in extreme cases but rarely succeeds.