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The L.A. Times recently reported that more and more people are using GPS tracking devices and they had some eye-opening statistics. Four years ago, everyday citizens used an estimated 550,000 GPS tracking units. This year people are using about 15 million tracking units. That is a big jump in the numbers of people using GPS tracking devices.

As a society our discussions about the use GPS tracking technology and the protection of privacy are going to continue for quite a while. Any device that can provide the kind of information that GPS tracking devices provide will be a point of contention for some people, at some point.

Because GPS tracking devices can record the comings, goings, and driving patterns of a car, they are being used to convict or release those accused of crimes that vary from speeding to homicide.

We’ve reported on the case involving 18-year-old Shaun Malone in Sonoma County, California. Malone fought a speeding ticket using evidence from a GPS tracking device that his stepfather bought from Rocky Mountain Tracking and installed on his car. During the trial, an expert vouched for the accuracy of the GPS tracking device. Dr. Stephen Heppe said on the stand that the Rocky Mountain Tracking’s device was “very accurate,” and that it released instantaneous, as opposed to averaged, data.

On the other side of the spectrum, GPS tracking units have provided the data needed to convict people of crimes. Sometimes the GPS tracking units that suspects have purchased and installed on their own cars end up being their undoing. In other cases, law enforcement officials have placed GPS units on a suspect’s vehicle to gather evidence.

GPS tracking can aid in investigative or surveillance activities for criminal and civil cases. Law enforcement officers and private investigators can use GPS tracking devices for surveillance and pinpoint the exact location of a person or item of interest.
Privacy experts are worried, but so far the courts have looked favorably on the advantages the GPS tracking technology can offer to those doing investigative tracking. In 2007, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that using GPS tracking in a cases involving someone suspected of making illegal drugs did not violate the 4th Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search or seizure.