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GPS Tracking; Legal?

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Lina Maini

gps

Recently a judge in New Jersey ruled that use of a GPS device to track a cheating spouse is not an invasion of privacy.  The premise for the ruling is that both parties shared the family vehicle and therefore, either could place the monitoring device on said vehicle. In an attempt to clarify the states’ position on GPS tracking, we held an informal study amongst our peers and researched existing legislation (including that also connected to wiretapping and privacy laws).

As best we can ascertain, there appears to be no definitive list of  state by state rulings on GPS devices and their placement on personal vehicles. Many states require the consent of the vehicle’s registered owner. Although the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that law enforcement agencies’ use of a GPS monitoring device constitutes an “illegal search” and that the potential surveillance subject is therefore protected against this type of monitoring under the Fourth Amendment, that clarity of use as of GPS tracking has not yet been legally defined for private sector use.

According to our knowledgeable friends at Brick House Security (NYC), it is  generally considered to be fair and legal usage of a GPS tracking device if:

  • You or your company own the vehicle.
  • You or your company do not own the vehicle, but you place the GPS device on the outside of the car — (e.g., under the rear bumper).
  • The vehicle is visible to the public — (e.g., in a parking lot or on a public street).
  • You could obtain the same information by physically trailing the vehicle.
  • The vehicle is not situated on someone else’s private property.

It’s generally illegal to use a GPS tracking device if:

  • You need to break into the vehicle to situate the device.
  • You need to physically hardwire the device inside the vehicle.
  • The vehicle is in a place where its owner has a reasonable expectation of privacy — in a private garage.

My suggestion for those wishing to engage in GPS surveillance of a subject, is to contact local police in the desired area of surveillance and ask within.

For additional GPS tracking related information, please read one of our  earlier articles on the subject, below linked.

Our Operatives: Street smart: info savvy.

As always, stay safe.

Related articles

http://beaconbulletin.com/2011/06/26/how-to-tell-if-your-car-phone-or-home-is-bugged/

EFF Urges Court To Stop Warrantless GPS Tracking (libertycrier.com)

Filed under: gps, ground tracking, Spying Equipment, surveillance | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Gov’t Can Attach a GPS Device to Your Car – No Warrant Necessary

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Lina Maini

From TIME: (August 25, 2010)

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.

Setting aside the absurd decision that one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his/her own driveway, isn’t the vehicle still private property? Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that, as an investigator, or even Ms. Jane Q. Public, if I went around attaching objects to others cars without their permission, that I might be arrested? 

That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.

This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle’s underside.

… the government violated Pineda-Moreno’s privacy rights in two different ways. For starters, the invasion of his driveway was wrong. The courts have long held that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their homes and in the “curtilage,” a fancy legal term for the area around the home. The government’s intrusion on property just a few feet away was clearly in this zone of privacy.

The judges veered into offensiveness when they explained why Pineda-Moreno’s driveway was not private. It was open to strangers, they said, such as delivery people and neighborhood children, who could wander across it uninvited.

Isn’t  wandering across private property uninvited trespass??  (That’s what I told my sister-in-law…)  Anyhow, we could recommend GPS blockers but savvy readers and the concerned public know how to Google for the info. (Oh and then that search will be traceable on your pc.  There are ways around that too but we’d rather see an outraged than paranoid populace.)
 
Where are we going with this government sanctioned privacy-invasion?  In another case of over zealous governmental intrusion, first term Riverhead, Long Island town supervisor,  Sean Walter,  used Google Earth to uncover 250 illegal pools (those built without the proper permits) in that town.   Mr. Walter (also an attorney) then has the gall to state he is a staunch defender of the Fourth Amendment.  There’s just something distasteful about someone in a position of power abusing their authority to build a career.  Steam-rolling ring a bell?  Well, perhaps someone might waltz into Mr. Walter’s driveway, GPS his vehicle, (as the TIME article stated, no search warrant is necessary and apparently, anyone can traipse across a private citizen’s property uninvited and at will) and then post his movements on a daily blog.  Let’s see  how Mr. Walter spends his day, every moment of it.
 
There are countless true stories of people being photographed in perhaps compromising or embarrassing situations within what they believe to be the privacy of their own backyards.    Individuals themselves also need to stop buying into marketers schemes and giving up their private information, sometimes for a literal dollar.  (Starbucks recently teamed up with social media giant Foursquare, offering a $1 off coupon on their products, inducing people to voluntarily reveal their current locations.)
 
These gross intrusions on the privacy of the citizenry is creating a perfect storm for wanton, blatant disregard for the Fourth Amendment – by the government, corporations and even other private, but interested, individuals.
 
BNI Operatives: Street smart; web savvy.
 
As always, stay safe.

Filed under: Dangerous Legal Decisions, gps | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Free GPS (KInda.. But It’s Still Free & Works!)

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Lina Maini

The ubiquitous cell phone now allows for a new Google feature (available in Windows and Mac platforms) that bodes the obsolescence of a current “must-have” device – the GPS unit – at least in its ordinary sense of getting us from x to y in our daily lives. (GPS will still be the location determination standard in law enforcement, military and other complex-needs organizations). But, in yet another example of the growing capabilities of our mobile lifeline, our cell phone can now tell us where we are or how to get to where we need (and sometimes, want) to go.

Unlike GPS (global positioning system), which relies on Earth orbiting-satellites to transmit microwave signals to determine location, speed, direction and time, Google’s “My Location” function operates by triangulating these factors using your cell phone’s tower transmissions.

With My Location, you can:

  • view real time traffic

  • obtain detailed directions (whether you are walking or driving…)

  • integrate local information (businesses and contacts in the area) and

  • view aerial images of the desired location(s)

BNI Operatives: Street smart: Web savvy.

As always – stay safe,

Lina

Filed under: aerial, directions, google, gps, image, map, my location | Leave a Comment »

Pinging: Tracking A Cell Phone

Posted on July 23, 2007 by Lina Maini

A popular term heard lately in reference to cell phone tracking is pinging. Cell Phone Tracking or Pinging as it is commonly referred to is the technology which is used to track the current position of a cell phone. It is helpful technology when trying to locate criminals or missing persons.

Your cell’s position is determined by the cell phone tower which is nearest to your phone’s signals location. Some phones with built in GPS receivers have a higher accuracy rate. Many newer phones do not even need to be powered on in order to receive the signal. Also, newer phones have a second battery source so if the primary battery is damaged or removed, the cell can still be tracked.

Now I am sure you are thinking, between the GPS equipment, the feed cost, monthly plan…. you may just want to stay under the radar. But, you can’t remain hidden regardless as the above CNN clip clearly shows and, think of the fun you will be denying yourself by knowing where your teenager really went Friday night or keeping an eye on the employee who thinks she has unlimited use/mileage of the company vehicle. Well, we dug a bit deeper and found a free tracking solution for you from our friends at http://www.mologogo.com.

If you need to locate a subject or client for real, however, visit our sister site: http://www.beaconinfopro.com.

BNI Investigators: Street smart, Web savvy.

Stay safe,

Lina

Filed under: cell, cell phone, gps, locate, phone, pinigng, tower, tracking | Leave a Comment »

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