No Warrant Needed For GPS Tracking By Police

museumpeace writes "Ruling that a suspect nabbed using GPS sneaked into his vehicle by police without a warrant, has '... no expectation of privacy in the whereabouts of his vehicle on a public roadway,' a New York judge has seemingly moved the lines in the battle between privacy and police powers. CNET news has this story, which also says 'Not all uses are controversial. Trucking outfits use GPS boxes to keep track of their drivers' locations, and companies sell software to dispatchers that instantly calculates which taxi is closest to a customer.' But I don't buy that. Yesterday in Massachusetts, a snow plow operator, too dumb to know his truck had GPS, exposed himself to a woman at a coffee shop, hopped back in his truck and was apprehended in minutes because the state troopers, knowing only the location of the coffee shop and that it was a snow plow operator, could find his exact whereabouts."

tin foil anyone

[AmigaAvenger]

great, now i can take off my tin foil hat because I'm going to have to cover my entire vehicle in tinfoil!!

Win a free GPS!

[Anonymous Coward]

Search your car to find out if you win.

Re:tin foil anyone

[athakur999]

Just buy a Yugo. I think those things were made out of tin to begin with. :)

Damn double standards!

[Wescotte]

If a man exposes himself to a woman he gets fined/jail time.

If a woman exposes herself to a man she gets whatever she wants!

Would they really need GPS for that?

[Anonymous Coward]

"knowing only the location of the coffee shop and that it was a snow plow operator, could find his exact whereabouts."

Of course, all they had to do was follow the plowed streets.

That name again

[martinX]

is Mr Plow.

He should sue for theft

[Lord Kano]

If this device was connected to his car then he would have been using his gasoline to transport it. If this was done without permission, the police have stolen (even if only a miniscule amount of) gasoline from him.

LK

Re:Can of worms

[nuclear305]

"OK, so now what's going to stop police from hiding GPS units on many cars parked on the street in high crime neighborhoods and tracking thousands of potential suspects?"

Cost. Technology is expensive. Storing data costs money. Paying staff to process said data is even more expensive. If you're going to start tracking "thousands of potential suspects" in the same neighborhood...GPS is not the way to go, cameras are.

Not a smart guy

[AvantLegion]

If he's driving a snow plow, there's probably snow. If there's snow, it's cold. If it's cold, there's shrinkage.

Maybe if he was operating at 100%, the woman would've been impressed instead of repulsed.

This is horrible...

[contagious_d]

Next thing you know, the police will be planting GPS trackers in houses. I had to say it before someone else said it by accident.

Re:Okay, so this changes what again?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you find the GPS device, just stick on a (preferably State) police car parked at the local 7-11. Let the tail chase the donkey.

It's in the EULA

[n6kuy]

What, you just clicked through it without reading it when you signed up for your driver's license?

Re:Strange Double Standard

[ray-auch]

Surely that makes an argument _for_ the GPS - since he knows where she is, he can avoid being near her and unknowingly violating the order.

Re:GPS jammer

[imnoteddy]

Not just for the Tin Foil hat crowd. Those who are criminally inclined may find a GPS Jammer handy. Though this does violate FCC regulations. But hey when you committing a crime, does breaking one more law matter?

If you see a GPS device on your car call the cops and say "Somebody put a bomb on my car!" The reaction should be entertaining.