How legal are GPS Tracking Devices

With the increasing popularity of GPS tracking devices there is a growing question as to their legality. For instance, the police in Wisconsin can attach a covert GPS tracking device to a car for any reason or for that matter, no reason at all. No warrant or any level of suspicion is required. This was brought about by a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision stating "If police follow a car around, or observe its route by means of cameras mounted on lampposts or of satellite imaging as in Google Earth, there is no search. Well, but the tracking in this case was by satellite. Instead of transmitting images, the satellite transmitted geophysical coordinates. The only difference is that in the imaging case nothing touches the vehicle, while in the case at hand the tracking device does. But it is a distinction without any practical difference."

Then go to New York where the Court of Appeals split 4-3 on the issue. With the majority saying that when the police planted a tracker on a van for 65 days it violated the van owner's constitutional protection against unreasonable searches. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote "The massive invasion of privacy entailed by the prolonged use of the GPS device was inconsistent with even the slightest reasonable expectation of privacy."

To further confuse the issue, in 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that when you drive on a public street you do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. That particular ruling was to allow police to place radio beepers in cars without getting a warrant. It is yet to be seen how the lower Courts will interpret the U.S. Supreme Court ruling when it comes to GPS trackers.

Now a company called StarChase LLC, which is working with Police Departments on their miniature GPS self-contained device that uses a compressed-air launcher mounted behind the grille of a police cruiser and uses a laser to target the fleeing vehicle. It discharges a projectile containing the GPS receiver, transmitter and power supply. The projectile adheres to the suspect vehicle and transmits coordinates back to dispatch. The dispatcher then views the location and movements of the tagged vehicle in near real-time on a digital road map via a secure Internet connection. They then can set up road blocks to trap the suspect vehicle and avoid dangerous high speed chases. To find out more on GPS tracking devices check out http://the-portable-gps.com