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Do you know the difference between GPS tracking and GPS navigation? Do you know what kind of device you have? Many people assume the terms are synonymous, but tracking and navigation are two different functions, and most devices only do one or the other. A lot of device owners don’t know their limitations until they run into a problem.

Here’s a recent scenario. The West Bloomfield, Michigan, police department got reports that several items were stolen from unlocked vehicles in the same area. The items included a laptop and two GPS units, each taken from a different car. So, since there are so many amazing stories about police finding stolen items by following GPS tracking devices, these units should be easy to find, right? Wrong.
As stated earlier, tracking and navigation are not the same thing – and that means your navigation device cannot be tracked. It’s ironic and you might even think it’s crazy, but here’s why. Most devices have basically one-way communication; while a tracker sends information to satellites and a central computer calculates the device’s position, a navigator only receives information from satellites and calculates its own position. Some companies are working on devices that communicate two ways, so you may see them on the market sometime soon.
Until then, what’s a person to do? Law enforcement all over the country reports that navigation devices are stolen every day, and most of them are never recovered. First, know what function you need, so you don’t waste money on a device you don’t need. Second, if you have a navigation device, store it out of sight (and keep your car locked). That goes for anything else valuable that you may leave in your car, too.

Finally, decide what you should put a tracker on. It’s like purchasing insurance – it costs a little bit to give you peace of mind and to avoid a potential big replacement bill later. You don’t need a device for everything, but you need to decide what’s worth it. That laptop owner in Michigan probably wishes he’d had one on his computer. If you have an expensive navigator, you could put a tracker on it (and we promise not to make fun of you).

But whatever you do, keep one thing in mind – unless you want to end up on the stupid criminals list, don’t steal a GPS tracker. You won’t get very far with it.

Article Written by Kadence Vyra