No, a private investigator cannot hack your phone, email or social media accounts. Getting into a device or account without the owner’s permission is a felony in Florida and a federal crime, and an investigator license grants no exception. Reading someone’s texts or installing spyware without authorization falls under the same laws, whoever is paying for it.
Florida’s section 815.06 makes it a third-degree felony to willfully access a computer or electronic device without authorization, and section 815.03 defines electronic device to include a cellular telephone. The same section covers using a device’s own features for audio or video surveillance of a person. Federally, 18 U.S.C. 1030 punishes unauthorized computer access to obtain information, and 18 U.S.C. 2701 and Florida’s section 934.21 cover unauthorized access to stored messages, such as email held by a provider.
The answer turns on authorization. An investigator may examine a device with the consent of its owner or authorized user, for example a phone a business owns and issues to an employee, or a client’s own phone checked for spyware. Whether a spouse or parent has authority over another person’s device is a fact-specific question for a lawyer, not something an investigator can settle. Licensees who break these laws also face discipline under section 493.6118.
If you suspect monitoring, note what you see and have the device checked by someone qualified before deleting anything, since the evidence may matter later. Physical tracking is covered in how to find a GPS tracker on your car, and the limits on call logs are explained in can a private investigator get phone records.