Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

GPS May Help Create a New Tax

January 21st, 2013

Some state governments are seriously looking at the possibility of using GPS tracking to help create a brand new tax. If you are a GPS enthusiast, this probably sounds like one of the least desirable applications of your favorite hobby. When you know just how the proposed tax will work, however, you might agree that it makes a lot of sense.

The story begins with electric and hybrid cars, which are slowly becoming more common on the roads. In the northwestern U.S., lawmakers are growing concerned about the fact that because these cars consume less gas than traditional vehicles, drivers will end up paying far less each year in gas taxes. These taxes are the primary source of funding for road building and repair, and a reduction in that funding could create a real budget problem for state governments.

In order to get these drivers to pay their fair share for using the roads, lawmakers want to use GPS tracking to identify how many miles each electric or hybrid car travels per year. The driver would then pay a “per-mile” tax, ideally contributing a similar amount to the gas tax for a comparable vehicle.

Hybrid car owners who pay a per-mile tax would get a credit for the tax on the gas that they do buy, so that they wouldn’t end up paying more tax money than other drivers. But there are other questions, too: What happens when cars leave the state? Should drivers pay taxes on the miles they drive through parking lots, on private driveways, or other areas not maintained by tax dollars?

Lawmakers hope that GPS tracking can provide the solutions to these problems. An accurate GPS system could track only miles driven on state-maintained roads, “stopping the odometer” when the car moves into private territory. Oregon is already testing this method on a small scale, and is excited about the initial results.

Of course, resistance from the auto industry exists, with many experts claiming that the tax would hurt the public’s interest in efficient cars. It is difficult, though, to argue with the state government’s statement that those who use the roads should pay for the privilege. If drivers aren’t buying gas, GPS tracking could help the government continue taxing them in a fair way.

If Only You’d Had GPS…

January 19th, 2013

It seems that officials in local government are realizing the powerful impact that GPS monitoring has on taxpayer resources. It’s often said that when a piece of technology works well, we don’t notice it, but when it fails, we instantly recognize just how much we needed it. A recent incident in Boston involving a stolen city-owned snowplow illustrates that fact.

The city of Boston invested a lot of money in GPS monitoring several years ago, seeking to provide more accountability for employees who used taxpayer-funded resources. Part of the system monitors snowplows as they clear the city’s streets, because it is very tempting for drivers to use the plows for their own profit, clearing private parking lots and driveways.

A small group of snowplows, however, never got GPS devices installed: The fleet responsible for plowing in city parks. The oversight went unnoticed by officials until one of the plows disappeared, stolen and caught on camera some distance away from its normal route. Normally, police would have used the truck’s GPS signal to track it down quickly, but instead they found it abandoned with a flat tire and no suspects nearby.

City officials are unhappy that, even though the GPS monitoring was available, supervisors of the park fleet did not install devices on their trucks. The supervisors responded by claiming that the devices were not needed since the intent of the GPS program was to prevent plows on city streets from taking quick private jobs. Also, they referred to cameras at park entrances that could spot plows leaving the park when they should have been working. However, officials are not willing to give the park fleet a pass on the accountability and safety that the GPS monitors provide on that basis.

With GPS technology available and already paid for, there was no reason for the police to be left with the task of tracking down a suspect with very little evidence to go on. The incident also raises the question in taxpayer’s minds: Have the snowplows in the park fleet been on private jobs as well, wasting city resources for the drivers’ benefit? These problems are the exact ones that the GPS program was intended to solve, and it has been doing a great job doing so elsewhere in Boston.

Track Your Trash!

January 4th, 2013

GPS tracking has been used to keep tabs on a lot of different items, and now it’s being extended to actual garbage. Have you ever wondered what happens to your bag of trash once it gets hoisted into a big, smelly truck? No? Well…keep reading anyway. Perhaps your interest level will rise as you see what a curious app developer is working on.

Many smartphone users, keen to keep up with the very latest technology, end up discarding their phones after just a few months. But even after you throw that phone away, GPS tracking technology can give it one more exciting purpose in life, reporting to you exactly where it is up until its battery runs out, or until it gets smashed to slivers underneath a pile of Volkswagens.

Are you ready to admit that you’d kind of like to know the trip your trash takes from your house to its final destination? Then you’re ready to look at Life of Trash, a coming-soon application that you can download to your smartphone just before you pitch it into a trash bag. The instructions are simple: Charge your phone fully; download the app and start it running; and toss it into the trash. Some precautions to protect it from disgusting trash liquids will extend the life of its broadcast. Once you wave goodbye to your friendly sanitation worker, head back inside and log onto the GPS tracking website.

In spite of your professed lack of interest, you will find yourself glued to your computer screen, watching as your phone becomes a correspondent from the beyond. As long as the trash truck doesn’t compress it, the GPS transmitter will continue broadcasting its signal until its battery power dies. And you will finally know the route your trash takes, giving you a fascinating conversation starter for your next social event.

Even if we haven’t convinced you that the life of trash is interesting, this app has other, more interesting potential uses. Is there a stray cat in your neighborhood? Why not strap your old phone to his neck and find out where he goes when he jumps over the back fence? If you suspect that the neighbor kid is using your bike while you’re at work, hide your phone on it with the app running. The possibilities are endless….

Shutting Down Stalkers

January 4th, 2013

Congress is getting closer to closing one of the most frightening loopholes in GPS technology. There has always been an undercurrent of uneasiness about privacy when it comes to GPS-enabled smartphones, but many of us don’t realize just how bad the problem is. If senators, representatives, and the President can cooperate to get the bill signed into law, it will go far to protect users of smartphones from potentially dangerous criminals.

What’s the worst use of GPS technology that you can think of? How about this: a stalker gaining access to your smartphone’s GPS data, then using it to view your location at any given time? Even worse, this problem could extend to your child’s phone if you haven’t taken the precautions to disable GPS functions on it. It’s naïve to assume that, in today’s world, there aren’t some people out there that are interested in this kind of activity, and in fact there are apps you can buy that make it easier to engage in it.

Stalking is illegal, but legislation has not yet caught up to the development of GPS technology in this specific area. Lawmakers are out to change that, reviving an effort that failed to gain support in 2011. This time around, the bill is seeing more success, receiving support from both Republicans and Democrats—one of the few areas in which that seems to be happening these days!

The bill’s creators cite numerous stories of women and children finding themselves followed by anonymous, invasive stalkers. In many instances, this happens without any action on the part of the victims. Apparently, stalkers are often able to simply look up an individual’s smartphone information and watch them move from place to place. Most people agree that only law enforcement officials and qualified authorities—parents and work supervisors, for example—should have that kind of ability.

A huge number of privacy rights groups and women’s interest groups have given their support to the new legislation. The faster it moves through Congress, the sooner “stalker apps” will become illegal. The effort to make GPS technology safer continues, and until it’s complete, a reminder is in order: Privacy experts advise that you disable GPS functions on your phone (and especially on the phones of kids) unless you are using them for a specific purpose. There’s no good reason to continuously broadcast where you are when you don’t know who might be watching!

Know Your Phone’s GPS Settings

December 4th, 2012

It’s not out of bounds to wonder whether some smartphone manufacturers and aggressive advertisers count on our ignorance for their success. Simply by not knowing what the settings on our phone or tablet is, we can be sending valuable and even sensitive information to these companies on a constant basis without even knowing it. You might be quite surprised to find out what a lot of people are learning from your phone or your kids’ phone, just because you didn’t turn off a certain capability or permission.

GPS data is powerful. A phone enabled with GPS can be quickly located at any moment, which is great for law enforcement and attentive parents, but not so great when it comes to companies that would like to market their products to you. If you are the kind of person that has a pop-up blocker on your Internet browser and has your name on the national “do not call” list, you probably are not comfortable with the idea of broadcasting to advertisers where you are shopping and what part of town you live in. All the same, if you haven’t disabled GPS data gathering on your phone, you could be doing just that.

Someone who values privacy but still wants to make full use of his GPS capability should adopt this default mindset: Keep your phone’s GPS functions disabled except for the specific times that you want to use them. There’s really no good reason to send out a constant tracking signal unless you are under the supervision of an authority, like a parent keeping track of a rather unpredictable teenager.

Another valuable tip: Using GPS data for purely social or entertainment purposes is not the best idea. Remember that your close, trusted friends are not the only ones who see your location updates. Complete strangers could be seeing them too, and criminals are quickly learning to pinpoint naïve GPS device users.

Talk about GPS safety with your entire family. GPS data is quickly becoming a part of our daily life, at a pace that is leaving regulation and legal protection dangerously far behind. Until it catches up, it is our responsibility to make sure that we keep our personal information—including current and past locations—personal.

A Huge Step Forward (or Backward)

December 3rd, 2012

First, it was merely hypothetical, a possible future application of the brand-new GPS technology. Then, insurance companies learned to make it practical and offered customers discount incentives if they would consent to use it. Now, the Indian government plans to make it mandatory.

We’re talking about constant, real-time tracking of driving habits. In the U.S., we have been extremely skittish about any plan for anyone to monitor what we’re doing in our cars, and insurance companies have been able to do it only by appealing to the only thing we value more than our privacy: our money. Even so, insurance providers are careful to specify what they track and don’t track—they don’t monitor whether or not customers exceed the speed limits, for example.

In India, however, the government is ready to require that all new cars carry GPS technology to do just that. Automotive accidents represent a huge problem in the country, and officials are eager to put an end to them however possible. Their chosen course of action is one that would probably get no further than the theoretical stages in the U.S.

The new program will not only monitor the way people are driving their vehicles; it will actually take control of those vehicles and forcibly prevent them from exceeding speed limits. When you buy a new car in India, it will have a GPS navigator pre-installed on the dashboard, which will provide a map of your current location. It will also “know” what the speed limit is in your area, and a sensor will detect whether you are below that limit. If you try to go faster than the speed limit, a mechanism automatically slows your car down.

Besides the obvious frustration that drivers are sure to face when this plan is in place, there appear to be safety issues as well. There are some times when a driver actually needs to drive over the speed limit—transporting an injured person to a hospital, for example. It is assumed that the government has balanced these risks against the chronic problem of traffic accidents in the country and has decided to go ahead with the program anyway.

The program still faces approval from key government departments, but so far it has met with little resistance.

In-Car Navigators: Already Obsolete?

November 17th, 2012

Have you ever arrived at a pre-arranged meeting spot, only to find that the group you were joining had already moved on to another location? If so, you have something in common with automotive manufacturers when it comes to GPS navigators. The timeline of new auto conveniences is familiar: First they are tested; then they are available in luxury cars; then they are available as options in most models; then they come standard in nearly all vehicles, like air conditioning and cruise control do today. GPS navigators have followed the same pattern, but something strange has happened while the process was going on.

Navigators have now reached the “available as options in most models” stage, but the technology has moved much more quickly in another area: that of smartphones and mobile devices. This means that, instead of paying extra for a GPS unit installed in your new car, you can just mount your phone on the dashboard and have an even better navigator.

It really is true that mobile GPS apps are generally more accurate than the navigators available for installation in new vehicles. They are updated more frequently, and they are more convenient—when you get out of the car, you can keep using your GPS to find a location within walking distance. More importantly, in-car GPS units have a notorious record for giving incorrect directions in rural or complex urban settings.

Undoubtedly, there will always be customers that value the convenience of a pre-installed GPS unit on the car itself. If you would rather not have a bracket somewhere on your dashboard and have to configure your phone every time you need directions, you might rather simply push a button and tell your car where you want to go. In fact, that kind of fast convenience might be the only thing left that in-car GPS devices can challenge smartphone apps with. If so, we can expect to see voice-activated, easy-to-use GPS units pre-installed on more and more models over the coming years.

Whatever the result of this competition, one thing seems certain: Very few people will be buying those stand-alone GPS navigators that mount on the windshield. They’re even larger than the average smartphone, and less convenient to use.

Should GPS Be Part of Dating?

November 16th, 2012

You have to wonder sometimes if the designers of the GPS network ever imagined that it would serve some of the purposes that it does today. From pinpointing small targets and giving officers greater control over troop placement, GPS has progressed to finding stolen iPads and ensuring that professional dog walkers are taking the correct routes during walks.

Now, GPS is ready to enter the dating game. Not as a client, but as a middleman, changing the way people meet each other. There are obvious advantages and very obvious disadvantages to this change; if you are single and looking for a way to meet that special someone, it is up to you to decide if you want GPS as your wingman.

Numerous new dating sites center their services on GPS-provided location data. Each user of one of these services allows their location to be accessed through their smartphone, and he can view the locations of other users as well. In the ideal situation, you can pull up a map, see who is in the same building as you are, decide whether they look like a good prospect, and meet them face to face. Think of it as a friend saying, “This person is right around the corner; these are her interests and this is what she looks like. Want to meet her?”.

Of course, there are many non-ideal situations as well. These would include an unwanted admirer walking up to you, leaving you no chance to pretend you’re not interesting in dating and forcing you into a conversation that you wish you weren’t involved in. Even worse, you could find that the person you meet up with is a dangerous person who has misrepresented himself on the dating site. Just as GPS makes it easier and quicker for legitimate couples to meet, it also makes it easier and quicker for criminals to find targets near them.

Using any dating service requires caution and common sense. Adding GPS technology to the mix just makes those requirements more important. If you feel comfortable with other singles seeing your location while you’re in line at the bank or watching a movie in the theater, these services could add some excitement to your dating life. If you enjoy retaining some control over when and where you meet a potential date, however, a GPS device may not be the best wingman for you.

PIs With GPS

November 16th, 2012

If you follow the news about GPS monitoring in the field of law enforcement, you already know that the Supreme Court recently put a big roadblock in the way of investigators who would like to track suspected criminals. As it turns out, the government views a GPS device secretly attached to a suspect’s vehicle to be a search, just like looking through the suspect’s house. Without a warrant, police can’t track someone via GPS.

Police aren’t the only people interested in finding out just what suspicious activity a person might be up to. Spouses that suspect their husband or wife of sneaking out and fooling around often become interested in the possibility of secretly tracking their cars. Sensing this new opportunity, private investigators all over the country now include GPS tracking in their list of services (for a fee, of course). But how can PIs use GPS to keep an eye on a suspected cheater when the police can’t?

In most cases, the legal loophole is centered in the fact that a couple usually owns a car jointly. If it came down to a court case, a husband could argue that he was tracking his own car, since he had joint ownership of it. If the PI was tracking the car for him, the same defense could apply. The only actual legal decision on this type of situation so far occurred in Minnesota, where the court supported this argument.

Of course, if the client of a PI asked him to track someone else’s car—a suspected mistress, for example—the law is pretty clear. A civilian is not allowed to track another person’s vehicle without ownership.

How are these laws actually being followed in the private investigation industry? It’s hard to tell without doing some creative research. PIs are understandably hesitant to volunteer lots of information to researchers about how they do their job and whether or not they’re breaking the law. Reporters posing as potential clients, however, have gathered some interesting data on what PIs will offer to do with a GPS tracker. If they’re not careful, these less-than-careful investigators could end up in a lot of trouble and find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

“Indoor GPS” Field Expands to More Indoor Areas

November 15th, 2012

Maybe you’ve heard the term “indoor GPS” and been caught by surprise. If you know how GPS works, you know that it isn’t yet capable of working indoors; the signals from satellites can’t make it through solid objects to your smartphone or tablet to give you a location. It’s the same reason navigating through urban areas with tall buildings is tricky, and why you temporarily lose your directions when you drive through a tunnel.

All the same, one of the hottest navigational topics today is “indoor GPS.” Although the term is misleading, it has gained traction, and in fact the term GPS has already gained a place in our language as a representation of reliable direction. Basically, people enjoy the advantages of real GPS so much that they are disappointed when they enter a large shopping mall and have to find their way on their own. With today’s advances in technology, why can’t we get the same kind of navigation indoors?

As enterprising as humans are, it was inevitable that they would find a way to satisfy this demand. The first indoor navigation systems function, not by looking to a satellite as a reference point, but by using IP addresses, wireless network hubs, and other stationary signal-producing objects inside the building. The results are not quite as reliable or accurate as GPS tracking devices, but they are quickly improving.

Meridian, a leader in the indoor GPS field, has created a powerful tool that will allow businesses to create applications using their sophisticated navigational software. For example, if you visit an airport, you could download the corresponding application and find a fully navigable map of the floor plan. Just as if you were using a real GPS device, you can enter your destination and enjoy turn-by-turn instructions for reaching it.

Testing of this newly released software has focused on three types of buildings that are some of the most difficult to map and navigate: a hospital, an airport, and a giant department store in New York City. The success of the testing has Meridian and potential developers excited about giving visitors what they want: the same easy, reliable navigation that they enjoy via real GPS when they are outdoors.