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GPS devices increasingly are used to spy on people
By FRANK JAMES
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON -- While GPS technology that uses satellites has been a boon to millions who don't want to get lost, others increasingly are turning to the same technology to track people and keep an eye on them.
Spouses who believe mates are having affairs, employers who suspect workers are misusing company vehicles or parents who wonder if their children are where they are supposed to be are among those using devices tied to the global positioning system of satellites.
At Washington's WJLA-TV, employees say officials at the station have abused the technology. Last year, management installed tracking devices in station vehicles -- cars and trucks that news crewmembers are permitted to take home.
Officials at the station, an ABC affiliate, have said the devices are to let editors know where vehicles are for newsgathering purposes so that the closest crew can be dispatched.
But employees said the devices have been used to monitor them. As one cameraman drove along a highway, a manager phoned to tell him to stop driving so fast.
Company officials confronted another cameraman, wanting to know why the company car was driven on the employee's day off.
"You have managers who call you and say, `Why have you stopped here, why did you stop there?' " said a news cameraman who asked not to be identified. "You're like, `I had to go to the bathroom,' or `I had to get something to eat.' "
The station's general manager, Chris Pike, didn't return several calls for comment.
While such GPS tracking is legal, the trend has contributed to the looming sense that the United States is increasingly a surveillance society, especially in the wake of stepped-up, terrorism-related security.
The tracking also has created a backlash, with some subjects of electronic tracking seeking to thwart the technology.
"Location tracking can be a considerably significant invasion of privacy," said Lee Tien, senior counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization concerned with civil liberties and technology issues.
"Who has access to that information?" he asked. "Under what circumstances? A lot of people don't think about what it means for your employer to be able to know where you go throughout your day. Or an insurance company."
The satellite technology used for tracking relies on the same network widely used for navigation. GPS navigation is what allows U.S. cruise missiles to explode on, or within feet of, selected targets. Recovery workers marked the location of space shuttle Columbia debris with GPS devices. Many rental cars now come with GPS displays that let customers find addresses in unfamiliar cities.
Meanwhile, Oregon is considering the feasibility of installing GPS technology in the cars of its residents to record how many in-state miles they drive as the state considers imposing car-related taxes based on road-mileage-driven versus fuel purchased.
GPS may have even figured in one of the most notorious crime sprees in recent U.S. history. Last year, when the Washington-area sniper suspects were arrested, a GPS device was among the items found in their possession. Investigators speculate it might have helped them evade police dragnets by taking side streets instead of major roads.
A network of 24 geo-stationary satellites broadcasts signals received by GPS devices. Using triangulation, the satellites help the devices gain a fix on their location anywhere on Earth.
While the navigational functions of GPS have caused little or no clamor, tracking has caused a stir. The devices can not only indicate direction but the speed at which a vehicle or person is moving and the precise address they have visited.
Some tracking is meant to protect the vulnerable. Wherify Wireless Inc., for example, makes a high-tech bracelet containing a GPS device and tiny wireless phone that can be placed on the wrists of children or Alzheimer's patients to help locate them if they get lost. Some companies offer tracking technology to the anxious parents of teenage drivers so they can know not only where their children are going but how fast they were driving. The devices cost about $400.
"If you look at our (tracking) technology, it way overweighs the bad that people can do with it," said Timothy Neher, founder and president of the company. Neher got the idea for the devices after a scary moment during a zoo visit when he was momentarily separated from two young relatives in his care.
Trucking firms have used GPS tracking for years to keep tabs on their drivers and shipments. But concerns about the potential use of the data for discipline purposes caused the Teamsters union to include specific language prohibiting such use in the contract it reached with United Parcel Service last August.
By FRANK JAMES
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON -- While GPS technology that uses satellites has been a boon to millions who don't want to get lost, others increasingly are turning to the same technology to track people and keep an eye on them.
Spouses who believe mates are having affairs, employers who suspect workers are misusing company vehicles or parents who wonder if their children are where they are supposed to be are among those using devices tied to the global positioning system of satellites.
At Washington's WJLA-TV, employees say officials at the station have abused the technology. Last year, management installed tracking devices in station vehicles -- cars and trucks that news crewmembers are permitted to take home.
Officials at the station, an ABC affiliate, have said the devices are to let editors know where vehicles are for newsgathering purposes so that the closest crew can be dispatched.
But employees said the devices have been used to monitor them. As one cameraman drove along a highway, a manager phoned to tell him to stop driving so fast.
Company officials confronted another cameraman, wanting to know why the company car was driven on the employee's day off.
"You have managers who call you and say, `Why have you stopped here, why did you stop there?' " said a news cameraman who asked not to be identified. "You're like, `I had to go to the bathroom,' or `I had to get something to eat.' "
The station's general manager, Chris Pike, didn't return several calls for comment.
While such GPS tracking is legal, the trend has contributed to the looming sense that the United States is increasingly a surveillance society, especially in the wake of stepped-up, terrorism-related security.
The tracking also has created a backlash, with some subjects of electronic tracking seeking to thwart the technology.
"Location tracking can be a considerably significant invasion of privacy," said Lee Tien, senior counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization concerned with civil liberties and technology issues.
"Who has access to that information?" he asked. "Under what circumstances? A lot of people don't think about what it means for your employer to be able to know where you go throughout your day. Or an insurance company."
The satellite technology used for tracking relies on the same network widely used for navigation. GPS navigation is what allows U.S. cruise missiles to explode on, or within feet of, selected targets. Recovery workers marked the location of space shuttle Columbia debris with GPS devices. Many rental cars now come with GPS displays that let customers find addresses in unfamiliar cities.
Meanwhile, Oregon is considering the feasibility of installing GPS technology in the cars of its residents to record how many in-state miles they drive as the state considers imposing car-related taxes based on road-mileage-driven versus fuel purchased.
GPS may have even figured in one of the most notorious crime sprees in recent U.S. history. Last year, when the Washington-area sniper suspects were arrested, a GPS device was among the items found in their possession. Investigators speculate it might have helped them evade police dragnets by taking side streets instead of major roads.
A network of 24 geo-stationary satellites broadcasts signals received by GPS devices. Using triangulation, the satellites help the devices gain a fix on their location anywhere on Earth.
While the navigational functions of GPS have caused little or no clamor, tracking has caused a stir. The devices can not only indicate direction but the speed at which a vehicle or person is moving and the precise address they have visited.
Some tracking is meant to protect the vulnerable. Wherify Wireless Inc., for example, makes a high-tech bracelet containing a GPS device and tiny wireless phone that can be placed on the wrists of children or Alzheimer's patients to help locate them if they get lost. Some companies offer tracking technology to the anxious parents of teenage drivers so they can know not only where their children are going but how fast they were driving. The devices cost about $400.
"If you look at our (tracking) technology, it way overweighs the bad that people can do with it," said Timothy Neher, founder and president of the company. Neher got the idea for the devices after a scary moment during a zoo visit when he was momentarily separated from two young relatives in his care.
Trucking firms have used GPS tracking for years to keep tabs on their drivers and shipments. But concerns about the potential use of the data for discipline purposes caused the Teamsters union to include specific language prohibiting such use in the contract it reached with United Parcel Service last August.
