GPS Tracking

[Marie E. Wilson]

Another interesting decision on the use of GPS tracking. (I believe there was also a recent decision involving stalking.)

WASHINGTON COURT LIMITS POLICE USE OF GPS
Associated Press

Police cannot attach a Global Positioning System tracker to a suspect's vehicle without a warrant, the Washington Supreme Court declared Thursday in the first such ruling in the nation.
The court, however, refused to overturn the murder conviction
of William Bradley Jackson, who unknowingly led police to the shallow grave of his 9-year-old daughter in 1999.

http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/9-11-2003/20030911124506_18.html

Read The Decision (State of Washington v. William Bradley Jackson)
http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/?fa=opinions.opindisp&docid=727996MAJ

[Kanda Force]

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this with us, Marie.

I moved your topic to the News forum. ;)

[Mr Jose Bonavich Jr]

Marie,

Interesting articles, thanks for posting.

Here's a question,

The ruling states

Article I, section 7 provides that '{n}o person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.'

in regard to the GPS inquiry.....so does this mean that P.I.'s are also constrained against using GPS in an investigation????

[Shiela M Hargett]

Intersting question, I hope to hear a response soon. As I am new to this field, there may be a time when I might need a GPS and should be familiar with the laws governing the usage of such a device.

[Marie E. Wilson]

Sheila and Leisl, I think this particular decision relates to constitutional guarantees and protections from intrusive government actions (and the necessity of a warrant, in particular). However, GPS is a little like Internet and copyright issues in the sense that the law appears to be evolving with respect to the application of GPS technology.

Since GPS tracking devices can theoretically be used to stalk others or utilized as a weapon in domestic conflicts and abuse situations, there is justified concern regarding application of this technology.

Perhaps Legal or someone who is knowledgeable could give some guidance with respect to the use of GPS tracking devices in investigations. Being fairly new myself, I don't personally know whether the use of GPS tracking is forbidden. It would certainly seem to warrant caution, as an impression, however. ;)

[Shiela M Hargett]

True, True, very true. Thanks for the feedback.

[Michael Runner]

Very good topic. Sorry that there isn't more posted from our knowledge base.

[Eric Stone]

i've heard that some trucking companies use this tech to keep track of their trucks in route and have had good resaults with it. i'm really curious how they plan on regulating it and what the backlash will be (there's always a backlash).

Eric Stone

[Kisha Kindle -]

I'm fairly new to this too, but I don't think that GPS tracking will affect companies such as the trucking industry. I would think that since these companies own the property that's being tracked, they have the right to know where it is at all times. But then again, I could be wrong.

There's also a tracking software available for mobile Nextel users. Instead of attaching a GPS receiver to the vehicle, the software is installed on the cell phone, so wherever the cell phone goes, you'll have a record of it.

[Lisette Amaro]

What about GPS tracking on your spouse or children. I don't believe this is illegal if it is your property. Now, what if you were just boyfriend and girlfriend?

Just scratching your brain.

[Michael Hudson -]

For the time being, it is illegal. Check with DOJ or local FBI Field Office. The individual who has a GPS tracking device placed on their vehicle must be aware of it. However, if it is in your own vehicle, that is another story. One way people are sneaking around it, is to place a cell phone with GPS tracking in a vehicle that can be tracked via cell phone company in event of loss or misplacement and also 911 emergenices for law enforcement to track.

However, for approximately $5.00 a month one can place their cell phone somewhere in a vehicle that has a monthly additional service that allows you via special software to actually monitor youj cell phone where ever it is via lap top or PC at that actual moment as the phone ands vehicles moves through any area on a map on youor screen. It also gives you a print out of stops, streets, addresses. This is kind of grey fne line but it is not quite the same as planting a GPS transmitter on someones vehicle without them being aware of it. "One can accidentally leave a phone in a car, drop it, lose it etc. etc. if you know what I am getting it. In final "Stay legal" and or keep track of t he subject through your local FBI field office and or FCC.

[Shawn Ablan]

GPS tracking is a useful tool to use and it would be nice for the Supreme Court to realize how many unsolved crimes could be solved if this option was available for the authorities to use at will

[Chad Haltom]

Shawn,

There is no writen law stating that a law enforcement officer can not use GPS. The issueing warrant if it is criminal can state that the use of GPS for tracking of persons may be used with permission from the commissioner and the judge signing the warrant. If the person is known to be of criminal intent or a threat to the community. I have spoken to many court officials about this topic and yes it is illegal to place a GPS on any vehicle unless you yourself own it. But the police and FBI ATF and , most law enforcement have the ability to use satcom and with the help of the new onSTAR most vehicles are already tracked with out knowledge or aknowledgement of the driver/owner.

[Chad Haltom]

Motorola Is now advertising GPS phones for companies that need to know who is where. Most phone companies will ask you for what use the GPS will be used.

[Michael Hudson -]

Motorola has had this out for over a year now. Check with NEXTEL for example who has been offering this for quite some time here in the South East. I have been a subscriber. Thanks for the info.

Regards

[Michael Hudson -]

This article is being passed for every one's info pertaining use of GPS which is very self explanatory regarding use.



Federal judge's ruling on GPS worries privacy advocates

By DEREK ROSE
New York Daily News

NEW YORK - Cops without A warrant can secretly attach Global Positioning System devices to a suspect's vehicle, according to a federal judge - who said using the gadgets is virtually the same thing as following a car along a road.

The decision handed down by U.S. Judge David Hurd in upstate Utica last week could give law enforcement officials another high-tech weapon to catch criminals, but is troubling to privacy advocates.

Hurd ruled that Robert (Bugsy) Moran, a Hell's Angels member and defense attorney accused of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, had "no expectation of privacy in the whereabouts of his vehicle on a public roadway."

"Law enforcement personnel could have conducted a visual surveillance of the vehicle as it traveled on the public highways," Hurd wrote.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Grable, who is prosecuting Moran, strongly backed the ruling.

"Your movements on a highway aren't private," he said. "You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is a Fourth Amendment test."

But civil liberties advocates said the decision opens the door to increased government surveillance.

Miniature GPS receivers are now available for about $1,000 and can be affixed to the undercarriage of vehicles in minutes.

Hurd's ruling is only binding in his upstate courtroom, said law Prof. Barry Kamins, but other judges will likely consult it.

"It's kinda scary," said Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York City Liberties Union. "If this ruling applied to New York City, the NYPD would be free to go out and attach these devices to cars and track people without any showing of wrongdoing."

In the Laci Peterson murder case, California detectives got court permission to hide the devices on three of Scott Peterson's vehicles. They showed Peterson visited a marina they had searched several times.

Not all judges agree with the most recent federal ruling.

Last year, Nassau County Court Judge Joseph Calabrese said attaching a GPS device to a car amounted to a search and seizure. "At this time, more than ever, individuals must be given the constitutional protections necessary to their continued unfettered freedom from a `big brother' society," he wrote.

[Chad Haltom]

michael,

This is a good example of the missuse of GPS. Also the upper northeast is only advertising the GPS this year. Obviously they use the system in areas for testing the operation before sharing the technologies Nation Wide. My company uses Motorola as its primary source of communication. Just recently have I had to tell my subs that they will be monitored for quality assurance. With the good there are always the bad. And with the amount of constitutional rights advocate in the U.S.(necessary or not) there will always be some one some where who will say, hey this is a violation of my constitutional rights. With out Missuse the system is in place to catch the people who break the law. As a Private investigator your duty is to remain a law abiding citizen. This means you have no worries in having your rights violated....

[Tiffany Eichor]

i've heard that some trucking companies use this tech to keep track of their trucks in route and have had good resaults with it. i'm really curious how they plan on regulating it and what the backlash will be (there's always a backlash).

Eric Stone
This is true. Some of the larger trucking companies have a "Qualcomm". They send and receive messages to and from their drivers and can locate the truck at will within a few miles. My husband drives for one of these companies. It also monitors the mechanical systems, including the speedometer and logs their driving hours instead of having paper logs which can be faked. Many truckers who do not have this technology keep two sets of books. One to show DOT/highway patrol and one for the company (mostly individuals not large fleets).

[Tammy Elia]

Thank you everyone for some interesting and insightful information. As technologies such as GPS advance, the legal and moral ramifications will prove to be an ongoing theoretical and civil battle.

Now something to think about.. Many scientist and animal behavior researchers use various forms of GPS and tracking devices to study their subjects. Most use small chips implanted subcutaneously without much harm or discomfort to the subject.

Where do you stand on using this technology to track the movements of convicted felons, rapists, child molesters and others with multiple convictions. Having been convicted of a crime, do these people lose their right to privacy of their daily whereabouts?

Food for thought. :)

[Tiffany Eichor]

Thank you everyone for some interesting and insightful information. As technologies such as GPS advance, the legal and moral ramifications will prove to be an ongoing theoretical and civil battle.

Now something to think about.. Many scientist and animal behavior researchers use various forms of GPS and tracking devices to study their subjects. Most use small chips implanted subcutaneously without much harm or discomfort to the subject.

Where do you stand on using this technology to track the movements of convicted felons, rapists, child molesters and others with multiple convictions. Having been convicted of a crime, do these people lose their right to privacy of their daily whereabouts?

Food for thought. :)


I would like to answer no to this. However, this country needs to do something to lower the crime rate. Middle eastern countries have very little crime due to the types of punishments they use (or at least they did when I was a child). Convicted felons lose the right to vote, so why shouldn't they lose some other rights, too. As far as I can tell, criminals have more rights and are given more benefit of the doubt than we are. How many convicts sit on death row with internet access, cable access, receive college degrees, and eat at least as well as I do, and all they had to do was commit a crime. I'm not saying they have an easy life, but frankly, no one's life is "easy". Perhaps if the consequences of crime were more severe, we could have less crime. A criminal has lost trust. When children lose their parents' trust, it takes a long time to get it back, and it is a long process. I don't think serving time is an adequate example of how a convict will behave on the outside. It should take time for them to gain back society's trust. Some of them just don't deserve it. Just for the record, I have a cousin who is an ex-con. I love him, and even though he has made great changes in his life, he still pays the price for his mistake on a regular basis.

Tiffany

[Michael Hudson -]

TIFF;

I do not see anything on the horizon as far as the possiblility of human gps implants. As long as the ACLU exists, there will always be a problem. If they had their way, there would be no passport requirements and this land would be open to everyone and anything. I am surprised we were able to pull off the bracelets for tracking which still need tweeking.

[Nick Thomas -]

Imagine the opportunities for contractors working in Iraq in they were fitted with a GPS implant. No more wondering where the terrorists are located. Their employers could simply provide the coordinates to their private security specialists (or US government officials) and voila, the hornet's nest is destroyed. I just don't know why more firms (with their multi-million dollar accounts in Iraq) don't make that a pre-condition for employees who work in war zones. If they can keep the fact that their doing this on the down low, the abducting terrorists can be caught or killed. Sorry to say but it won't help the employee much; statistics show that most hostage rescues end with the hostage being killed. But, atleast it would take things to another level, and the unsophisticated would-be-abductors would consider the risks too great to even venture the act.

I don't know. Food for thought.

[Ralston Taylor]

Very interesting! Having watched the movie "Enemy of State" a few days ago it made me think just how "smart" the intelligence community is becoming. Yet it could go too far. Who will decide just how far this goes?

RT

[Todd Heddleson]

i've heard that some trucking companies use this tech to keep track of their trucks in route and have had good resaults with it. i'm really curious how they plan on regulating it and what the backlash will be (there's always a backlash).

Eric Stone

Eric just a note, as a former truck driver, compainies do not use this to keep track of there trucks, they use them to keep there drivers leagal. if the driver goes over the milesthey can drive per day the gps will shut down the truck/some times as long as 15 hours. it's not to find out were the truck is but, more find out what the driver is doing.

[Lura Jones]

Very good question since we sell these on our web site. Please post any news on this subject. Thanks.

[Ian Langley]

I don't know about in the U.S. but in Canada some vehicles have a tracking system that uses cellular based tracking technology. It is a Montreal based company called Boomerang. They use the cell phone towers for tracking and unlike GPS parking garages, tunnels, thick cement obstructions, shipping containers, etc do not block the signal. They have a 98% sucessful tracking rate. Since this is not as stated "GPS" and does not use any of the same technology would this system be able to be used ?

[Joyce Jameson -]

All very good points. My husband also drives a county truck and they can tell where the truck is at all times, including length of lunch break ect. Good or bad? Who's to say at this point. As for me I just act as if a camera is on me every second that I'm out of my house, no problem, If it's something that I wouldn't want to be on the front page of the paper then I don't do it in public. I understand why some people think it's wrong but look at the world we live in today. I grew up in the 60's & 70's complaining about "the man", today it's fine with me, Old age? Insanity? Progress? HHHMM
Joyce

[Jason McLaughlin]

I am not giving any legal advice. From what I know... We will never place any gps device on anything without written permission from the owner of the item. This can include community property. If it is in both their names one party will suffice. If a company owns the item and has commercial insurance I would think it would be fine.
Always check with a suitable lawyer, and your insurance company. With resonsonable expectation of privacy getting a warrent/ supenoe will be easy for law enforcment. With a lawyer the same may be done with a PI. The safety may overrule the privacy... It's up to the judge.

[Flora Porter]

TLC

Taxi drivers are protesting GPS Tracking due to privacy issues.

[James Wallace]

In the state of Tennessee a PI can not attach a GPS tracker
to anyones auto ...But the owner, if his or her name is on the title of that auto he or she can attach a GPS Tracker.

[Technical Support - USA]

In the state of Tennessee a PI can not attach a GPS tracker
to anyones auto ...But the owner, if his or her name is on the title of that auto he or she can attach a GPS Tracker.
That is a good piece of information!

If you happen to come across a web link to the law on that, please post it so I can make a copy for another legal topic we have.

[Technical Support - USA]

Wal*Mart uses chip devices that are placed in higher priced merchandise that is somewhat "GPS" tracked from their warehouse to their stores to their shelves to the check out to . . . ? Your home?

[James Wallace]

Wal-Mart...When the item is scaned for pricing the chip is also scaned and DELETED. If it was'nt the alarm would sound off as you go thru the walkout scanner. I will get the Tn State law on GPS Trackers not sure about other states.