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Government

So the FBI Is Having Trouble Finding Those GPS Trackers After SCOTUS Ruling Turns Them Off

Mar. 2, 2012 8:56am Liz Klimas

FBI Having Trouble Locating the 3,000 GPS Devices It Had to Turn Off

GPS tracking device. (Photo: Yasir Afifi/AP)

In a unanimous ruling this year, the Supreme Court decided that GPS tracking of criminal subjects by law enforcement required a warrant. With that decision, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had to turn off its 3,000 devices in use but it still wants them back. See the problem here?

The Wall Street Journal reports, FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann saying at a “Big Brother in the 21st Century” conference last week that the ruling has been a “sea change” within the agency. The FBI has had to apply via court order to temporarily turn on the devices, many of which are located under cars, in order to find them for retrieval.

According to WSJ, the ruling has caused the agency to review its GPS policy and other practices as well:

For instance, [Weissmann] said, agency is now “wrestling” with the legality of whether agents can lift up the lid of a trash can without committing trespass. The majority opinion in U.S. v. Jones held that the agents had trespassed when placing the GPS device on a car without warrant.

He said the agency is also considering the implications of the concurring justices – whose arguments were largely based on the idea that a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the totality of their movements, even if those movements are in public.

The Supreme Court’s precedent-setting ruling in U.S. v Jones lead Greg Nojeim, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s project on freedom, security and technology, to tell the Blaze at the time that he believed this “signals their willingness to protect privacy in the face of advancing technology.”

[H/T Gizmodo]

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Comments (71)

alinskythis
Posted on January 17, 2013 at 3:37pm
There are at least two types of GPS.

One, passive, that they stick somewhere on your car with a magnet, or other attachment. The power has to be recharged, so it needs to be accessible.

The other is active, and is used if they want to monitor you on a permanent or ongoing basis. Those can be found behind the dash connected to the car’s electronics power source.

This whole privacy laws thing is a complete myth.

They make a great big show out of leading us to believe we have all these privacy rights, every company has a privacy policy, etc.

For instance, if the FBI want to get your records from the cable company, supposedly they need a court order.

YEAH, RIGHT.

The fact is, the intelligence and law enforcement agencies do whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want, regardless of the most recent decision.

They always have. How do you think they amass those big, fat dossiers?

Privacy is a myth.

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cannon12pdr
Posted on March 4, 2012 at 10:56pm
If found take it to a finger print specialist for prints and then go to the cops and press charges for criminal tresspass.

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RayOne
Posted on March 4, 2012 at 4:20pm
This must mean that information collected using GPS tracking and audio collected can not be used ‘In A Courtroom’.
If it is useful, hey.

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billvassos
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 1:30pm
Its bad enough we as tax payers can get electrocuted or sprayed in the eyes with pepper if we argue with a cop…. i dont pay hefty taxes to be tracked like an animal without warrant. I dont know when it became legal to abuse tax payers over laws created by man….. Thou shall not sell drugs?? Run numbers? Who made it legal to ignore the Bill of Rights? Oh yeah….now i remeber….

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george carrier
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:29am
put the trackers on them and see what they do agenest the law

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ACACIA
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 3:59am
if i found one on my car i would remove it and beat it to death with a sleg hammer

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408 CheyTac
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 1:43am
Wonder if they would stick to spotted owls?

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suz
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:40pm
a breath of fresh air in a garbage dump.

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Mary Just
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 11:38pm
The FBI is no different than the ATF just crooked and corrupt

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kevinj319
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 10:50pm
Stick something on my car, and it becomes mine. FBI can bid on their trackers on eBay.

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Dio fan
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 7:20pm
The FBI may not be able to use info gained from these GPS’ in a courtroom, but I really doubt they are turned off. If I found one on my car I would proceed immediately to the local truck stop, and attach it to a long haul semi trailer.
Then they could ponder my suspicious trips all over the US :D

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Proud Stray Dog
Posted on March 2, 2012 at 7:17pm
Come to think of it…..one of those may have been on my truck. I’ll check the next time I go to the gun range. It’s on the 300 yd berm with a bunch of 5.56 holes in it.

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