Both Systems Finding Challenges in Courts of Law
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Isaac Newton’s third law of motion could be loosely applied to the debate over GPS tracking technologies.
Every time a commercial product is introduced that will allow someone to secretly record or copy something or someone; another product will follow that will either try to find it, or foil it.
This is the case with the growing industry of GPS tracking devices. GPS tracking devices, such as vehicle tracking systems, fall under the category of surveillance products. These GPS tracking products – which locate and track an object using satellite radio signals – have only been available for civilian use for about the last 10 years. And already there is counter surveillance equipment on the market that purports to either locate the vehicle tracking system, or to prevent it from operating properly.
Courts struggle from time to time with GPS tracking data and whether it is reliable enough to be used in legal proceedings. Another question is whether the GPS tracking data was obtained legally. And a third: Does the vehicle tracking evidence lose any credibility if there was an attempt to block, disguise or muffle the GPS satellite radio transmissions?
Some lawyers have argued that if GPS tracking data is “spoofable” or “jammable,” it can’t be guaranteed accurate and it shouldn’t be admissible as evidence. Supporters of covert GPS tracking say all kinds of evidence (photographs, audio recordings, hard copy documents) can be tampered with, so all should be admitted as evidence and judged for credibility, case by case.
There are three basic types of devices designed in defense to GPS vehicle tracking systems.
- What is a GPS detector?
GPS detectors work much like radar detectors. The hardware detects GPS tracking transmissions by using a radio frequency scanner. It does not affect the vehicle tracking system’s operation; It just warns the driver that a vehicle tracking device is present. - What is GPS jamming?
GPS jammers broadcast on the same frequencies assigned to the GPS tracking system. They try to deliberately interfere with vehicle tracking data transmission by blanketing the frequency with noise or blocking the vehicle tracking transmission completely. - What is GPS spoofing?
GPS spoofers also work on the GPS radio frequencies. They try to cause the GPS tracking system to transmit incorrect (spoofed) location data; or confuse the receiver into thinking it is in a different place than it actually is.
Should all GPS tracking data be dismissed from evidence, merely because the potential exists that it could be tampered with?
We approach this first by considering each category of GPS counter surveillance individually.
- GPS detectors are nothing more than an irritation to law enforcement. Vehicle tracking detectors merely tip off the driver that someone is tracking them. What happens from there is the driver’s decision. Detectors, logically, would lead to the lack of evidence. The fact that the courts have GPS tracking data to consider means that the detector failed to do its job.
- Similarly, GPS jammers are a major irritation to police who are following a subject with vehicle tracking equipment. This GPS tracking hardware will create gaps in the vehicle path or eliminate whole sections of a trip, but what remains of the trip should be considered accurate and reliable. GPS tracking position updates are independent of one another. The absence or masking of one reading does not taint the rest of the vehicle tracking report.
- GPS spoofers are a different story because GPS spoofers deliberately feed the police incorrect vehicle tracking information. It’s unlikely a GPS spoofer would be involved in a criminal case because, in order to make a decision to spoof, the criminal would have to be aware he is being tracked. That’s not usually the case, unless the criminal is ordered by the courts to wear a GPS tracking bracelet.
Second, spoofers skew all the GPS tracking receivers in an area, not just one GPS. Suspicious readings can be compared to other vehicle tracking receivers in the area; and the spoofer can easily be verified or discounted.
Also, it’s very difficult to create a spoofed or fake vehicle tracking trip that makes sense and is believable. Temporarily throwing the police off your path is one thing. Making up an entirely new path is another. Like counterfeiters with currency, an expert might produce a fine reproduction, but it’s the little errors that will stick out like a sore thumb.
Should counter surveillance GPS tracking equipment be illegal?
Some say that would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If GPS tracking detectors, jammers and spoofers create a safety hazard or if they are used to obstruct justice, they should certainly be regulated. But counter surveillance vehicle tracking equipment cannot be declared illegal, because they have a legitimate use outside of law enforcement. Counter surveillance GPS tracking equipment is used by adults who suspect that they are being electronically followed: their partner is spying on them, a personal investigator is on their tail, or their boss or business competitor is nosing around into their personal lives.
It is not uncommon for GPS tracking data to be presented into evidence in court, to prove an individual or object was at a certain location at a certain time. Vehicle tracking has earned its reputation for extremely reliable and accurate evidence in court. The presence of counter surveillance equipment does not negate that fact.
Case in point: A New York area man was recently convicted of the second degree murder of a babysitter. A vehicle tracking device his wife planted on his truck recorded the vehicle in a sparsely-populated, wooded area for an inordinate amount of time, when the man should have been driving the girl home from a babysitting job.