A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that a person commits the offense of cyberstalking if the person knowingly installs or places a tracking device without consent and uses the device to track the location of an individual.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑196.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14‑196.3.  Cyberstalking.
(a)	The following definitions apply in this section:
(1)	Electronic communication. – Any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature, transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, computer, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo‑optical system.
(2)	Electronic mail. – The transmission of information or communication by the use of the Internet, a computer, a facsimile machine, a pager, a cellular telephone, a video recorder, or other electronic means sent to a person identified by a unique address or address number and received by that person.
(3)	Electronic tracking device. – An electronic or mechanical device that permits a person to remotely determine or track the position and movement of another person.
(4)	Fleet vehicle. – Any of the following: (i) one or more motor vehicles owned by a single entity and operated by employees or agents of the entity for business or government purposes, (ii) motor vehicles held for lease or rental to the general public, or (iii) motor vehicles held for sale by motor vehicle dealers.
(b)	It is unlawful for a person to:
(1)	Use in electronic mail or electronic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to that person's child, sibling, spouse, or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose of extorting money or other things of value from any person.
(2)	Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of abusing, annoying, threatening, terrifying, harassing, or embarrassing any person.
(3)	Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person's family or household with the intent to abuse, annoy, threaten, terrify, harass, or embarrass.
(4)	Knowingly permit an electronic communication device under the person's control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.
(5)	Knowingly install or place an electronic tracking device without consent, or to cause an electronic tracking device to be installed without consent, and use the device to track the location of any person. The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to the installation, placement, or use of an electronic tracking device by any of the following:
a.	A law‑enforcement officer, judicial officer, probation or parole officer, or employee of the Division of Corrections, Department of Public Safety, when any such person is engaged in the lawful performance of official duties and in accordance with State or federal law.
b.	The parent or legal guardian of a minor when tracking (i) the minor or (ii) any person authorized by the parent or legal guardian as a caretaker of the minor at any time when the minor is under the person's sole care provided that the tracking device is not located on the physical person of the caretaker.
c.	A legally authorized representative of a disabled adult, as defined in G.S. 108A‑101(d).
d.	The owner of fleet vehicles, when tracking such vehicles.
e.	A private investigator as defined in G.S. 74C‑3(a)(8), who is licensed in accordance with G.S. 74C‑2 and is acting in the normal course of his or her business and with the consent of the owner of the property upon which the electronic tracking device is installed and placed. However, this exception does not apply if the private investigator is working on behalf of a client who is subject to a domestic violence protective order under Chapter 50B of the General Statutes, or if the private investigator knows or should reasonably know that the client seeks the private investigator's services to aid in the commission of a crime. For purposes of this sub‑subdivision, the term "private investigator" includes "private detective" as defined in G.S. 74C‑3(a)(8).
f.	The installation, placement, or use of an electronic tracking device authorized by an order of a State or federal court.
(c)	Any offense under this section committed by the use of electronic mail or electronic communication may be deemed to have been committed where the electronic mail or electronic communication was originally sent, originally received in this State, or first viewed by any person in this State.
(d)	Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
(e)	This section does not apply to any peaceable, nonviolent, or nonthreatening activity intended to express political views or to provide lawful information to others. This section shall not be construed to impair any constitutionally protected activity, including speech, protest, or assembly."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2015, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.