5 ms·

How to check your car for a GPS tracker

6 points by rflrob 15y ago

oniTony 15y ago
The article does not make any suggestions as to what to do if a tracker _is_ found on a car.
- michaelcampbell 15y ago
  I've wondered about that too. I am genuinely curious if there are laws that concern removal of federal/state/local "equipment" from your car, or if "they" would simply charge you with theft (of official property) or "tampering with ..." or somesuch thing if you were to find one, and reattach it to someone else's car, or throw it out or something. Especially so if you had not previously given any authorization to PUT such a device on your car. I assume most rental agreements have some clause in them if the rental agency has a tracker on their fleet, or if you're under some sort of house arrest and that's part of the deal. But covert surveillance? Can you be charged with screwing up the authorities in that way?
  - oniTony 15y ago
    At the very least, they will threaten to charge you with... whatever. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_tracking_warrants http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_track... > the agents who showed up to collect the device were "hostile," threatening to charge Afifi if he didn't immediately cooperate and refusing his request to have a lawyer present.
    - michaelcampbell 15y ago
      Yes, I was thinking of this case specifically when I wrote. If memory serves, that young man found the thing and asked on ... twitter? Facebook? some web site "Is this a tracker?" then the feds got all snippity about getting the device back. I was thinking more of what happens if a person silently dislodges it... into a lake. Or the neighbor's truck who happens to be travelling cross-country for the next 3 months and says nothing to anyone about it. I wonder what the actual (as opposed to legal) ramifications would be.
dmlorenzetti 15y ago
The engine compartment is going to be too hot, and the trunk is basically a metal box, so you can still pretty much rule those out. It's not clear why the engine compartment would be too hot. Most automobiles have a slew of electronics stashed under the hood, and they work just fine, across a huge temperature range. Also not clear why the trunk is ruled out, for a system that is "spliced right into your car's electrical system." Many cars have the actual radio stuck in the trunk, and they work just fine, since the electrical system includes an antenna.
- michaelcampbell 15y ago
  > Also not clear why the trunk is ruled out... I think for the relatively inexpensive GPS' out there, they require LOS to the satellites. That said, my phone gets a GPS lock fairly reliably in my house, so yeah, good question.

6 points by rflrob 15y ago

oniTony 15y ago

The article does not make any suggestions as to what to do if a tracker _is_ found on a car.

michaelcampbell 15y ago
I've wondered about that too. I am genuinely curious if there are laws that concern removal of federal/state/local "equipment" from your car, or if "they" would simply charge you with theft (of official property) or "tampering with ..." or somesuch thing if you were to find one, and reattach it to someone else's car, or throw it out or something. Especially so if you had not previously given any authorization to PUT such a device on your car. I assume most rental agreements have some clause in them if the rental agency has a tracker on their fleet, or if you're under some sort of house arrest and that's part of the deal. But covert surveillance? Can you be charged with screwing up the authorities in that way?
- oniTony 15y ago
  At the very least, they will threaten to charge you with... whatever. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_tracking_warrants http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_track... > the agents who showed up to collect the device were "hostile," threatening to charge Afifi if he didn't immediately cooperate and refusing his request to have a lawyer present.
  - michaelcampbell 15y ago
    Yes, I was thinking of this case specifically when I wrote. If memory serves, that young man found the thing and asked on ... twitter? Facebook? some web site "Is this a tracker?" then the feds got all snippity about getting the device back. I was thinking more of what happens if a person silently dislodges it... into a lake. Or the neighbor's truck who happens to be travelling cross-country for the next 3 months and says nothing to anyone about it. I wonder what the actual (as opposed to legal) ramifications would be.

dmlorenzetti 15y ago

The engine compartment is going to be too hot, and the trunk is basically a metal box, so you can still pretty much rule those out. It's not clear why the engine compartment would be too hot. Most automobiles have a slew of electronics stashed under the hood, and they work just fine, across a huge temperature range. Also not clear why the trunk is ruled out, for a system that is "spliced right into your car's electrical system." Many cars have the actual radio stuck in the trunk, and they work just fine, since the electrical system includes an antenna.

michaelcampbell 15y ago
> Also not clear why the trunk is ruled out... I think for the relatively inexpensive GPS' out there, they require LOS to the satellites. That said, my phone gets a GPS lock fairly reliably in my house, so yeah, good question.