GPS, the Police, and Your Rights..
The Washington Post has an interesting article today regarding the use of GPS tracking devices by law enforcement. Many agencies are starting to use the devices to track suspect's vehicles. The question raised is does the use of the GPS tracking device violate your rights? Many states allow law enforcement to place the device on a vehicle without a warrant. The vehicle does have to be parked on public, not private, land. So if you park your car in your own driveway, and not on a street, you are ok.
The article follows the case of David Lee Foltz, Jr., who is accused of attacking women in a DC suburb of Virginia. They put a Global Positioning System device on Foltz's van, which allowed them to track his movements. Police said they soon caught Foltz dragging a woman into a wooded area in Falls Church. After his arrest on Feb. 6, the string of assaults suddenly stopped. The break in the case relied largely on a crime-fighting tool they would rather not discuss.
Foltz' attorney filed Freedom of Information Act requests with every police department in Virginia, asking about their use of unwarranted GPS tracking. Most departments said they had never used the device. About two dozen refused to respond.
Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program, considers GPS monitoring, along with license plate readers, toll transponders and video cameras with face-recognition technology, part of the same trend toward "an always-on, surveillance society." "Things that would have seemed fantastic 15 years ago are now routine," he said. "We have to rethink what is a reasonable expectation of privacy."
The United States Supreme Court has yet to rule on unwarranted GPS tracking devices. What do you think of the use of these devices by law enforcement?
