Suspect spousal infidelity? GPS her!
Posted by Michael Stanclift on 04 January 2003 - 03:29 · 6 comments & 419 views
About the Author
Full name: Michael Stanclift
Forum name: Marshalus
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Full name: Michael Stanclift
Forum name: Marshalus
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
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(2 replies)
#1 Posted by Jack Handey on 04 Jan 2003 - 03:44
- Judging by the entusiastic headline, it almost seems as the poster supports these kinds of actions. I hope this is not the case. But, if you do, then f**k you.
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(2 replies)
#2 Posted by ir0nw0lf on 04 Jan 2003 - 05:17
- Posting a headline about the latest serial murderer doesn't mean the poster supports the murderer...
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#2.1 Posted by Jack Handey on 04 Jan 2003 - 05:29
- [neoquote=#2.0 by ir0nw0lf]Posting a headline about the latest serial murderer doesn't mean the poster supports the murderer... [/neoquote]
good point
not
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#2.2 Posted by Marshalus on 04 Jan 2003 - 05:41
- Just because I write a headline, or post a story, or do anything news related doesn't mean that I'm supporting anything.
Unless you see (Ed: Everyone should use GPS to track their wifes.) posted with it, you don't know my opinion.
Last edited by 82 on 04 Jan 2003 - 07:32
Using GPS software, the computers also track cars for seven police agencies. Some of the vehicles are waiting to be stolen, while others are driven by unsuspecting suspects who are under surveillance.
And then there are the private citizens, some 5,000 of them, whose cars are tracked night and day. Finding their latitude and longitude is as easy as logging on to the Internet, typing in a password and looking at a computerized map. It's impossible, however, to find out how many of the customers track their spouses or partners without telling them.
"It does happen," admits John Phillips, president and CEO of Satellite Security Systems, a location-tracking company. "We don't promote it. We hope it's used more for safety for wives and husbands than spying on them."
But the company doesn't ask questions. And its tracking systems are so inexpensive and easily hidden that they may even tempt a suspicious spouse who pinches pennies. It costs just $600 to $700 to outfit a car or truck with a master control device, which is about the size of a compact disc case and an inch thick. It's connected by a wire to a matchbook-size GPS sensor.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it's legal for cops to use technology to track a suspect on the road, it's not so clear whether you can monitor your spouse's movements. "As is so often the case, law develops behind new technology," said Mark Grossman, a Miami attorney who specializes in technology law.
Courts may be sympathetic to snooping citizens because someone's driving patterns aren't a secret, Grossman said. "Common sense tells you that if I want to follow you in your car, there's no law against that. If I want to videotape where you're driving, that's fine, although it could cross the line into stalking."
But Douglas Crewse, a private investigator in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, Texas, said tracking devices could still leave private users open to charges of invasion of privacy, especially if state law is strict. What if a device tracks an errant spouse onto private property where trespassing is outlawed? What if hackers gain access to tracking data?
"I wouldn't touch a tracking device with a 10-foot pole," Crewse said. "Once you get caught, you're going to get nailed in civil court."
Or the consequences could be even worse. As attorney Lee Tien of the Electronic Freedom Foundation pointed out, tracking data could be subpoenaed.
If you drive your spouse's car, that could reveal something pretty sensitive -- your own travels in recent days.