Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

Safety in Enablement of GPS Location Services Possible on smartphones

April 15th, 2013

While the perks of GPS tracking location services can be appealing, many users of smartphones have raised valid questions of privacy and security. What safeguards do cell phone manufacturers use to ensure security of clients’ data? How easy it is for strangers or predatory individuals to access GPS tracking data from smartphones? Are cell phone companies doing anything to address the concerns of their clients?Indeed they are. Trustworthy smartphone and app developers have worked very hard to keep a standard of integrity and safety in their products.

The technologies of smartphones has exploded in recent years, enough so that government officials have yet to truly establish set laws specifically against smartphone hacking and also for smartphone privacy protection. Location services on smartphones can place users at risk of attack from hackers and other criminal individuals, who may utilize stolen data and GPS tracking to prey upon smartphone users. But smartphone and smartphone app developers have designed many privacy tools within their products in order to enable users to guard themselves against attack.

One feature of GPS-enabled phones is an on/off toggle control for location services and GPS. Tracking of a user’s phone or collection of data is not possible while this feature is turned off. This setting can be changed from the phone’s settings or controls page at the will of the user.

Creators of smartphone apps often have similar switches or controls displayed on the smartphone’s overarching settings page. Users can change them at will, and in some cases on a use by use basis. Users may find that they desire to use locations services or GPS technology at some times, and then to avoid using them at others.

Also, many trusted PC security software providers are now offering mobile security software, so users can download and install anti-malware programs directly onto their smartphone. Some of these software providers include AVG, McAfee, and Norton.

The risks of privacy violation, GPS tracking, and hacker attack are very real for smartphone users, it is true; however, if users keep their wits about them as they browse and roam, using caution in trusting apps or third-parties, smartphone users can enjoy a fulfilling and safe mobile experience.

India to Offer Anti-Rape GPS Wristwatches to Women

April 10th, 2013

During a time of political and social reform, India intends to use GPS technology in an attempt to curb the kind of violence that was illustrated in the account of a 23-year-old Indian medical student who died after being gang raped on a bus in December 2012. In the works is a wristwatch that would allow women to contact authorities via GPS tracking should they ever be attacked.

Currently, India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is designing the device. Upon approval, the Indian government would possibly contract ITI, the company selected to carry out the project, to implement the plans for the wristwatch. Intending for the GPS tracked safety watch to be affordable for everyone, ITI would manufacture a device costing around $20-$50. The watch would consist of an alarm button that, when pressed in case of attack or emergency, would send a text message with location coordinates to both law enforcement and the owner’s family or previously chosen emergency contacts. The owner would also be able to use a camera built into the watch itself to record up to half an hour of audiovisual activity data.

Will These Wristwatches Really Be Adequate for Protection?

Should the wristwatch be developed, the responsibility of follow-up would rely heavily on the local Indian police forces. As of yet, many feel that the law enforcement, particularly in Delhi where the aforementioned publicized attack took place, are currently dropping the ball where women’s protection is concerned. Advocates of women’s safety in India have said that the police’s response time to individual rape attacks (if there is a response at all) must dramatically quicken before any safety device, wristwatch or otherwise, will make any difference.

Another hang-up is the Indian government’s ability to follow through on working technology. Some skeptics have separately cited the failure of both of a promised national brand tablet PC to hit the Indian market and also the attempt to run a sexual attack phone hotline to take reports.

As of yet, it seems India is the first to pioneer a national device for this specific purpose. Should the product prove to be a top seller on the Indian market, the burden of making it work lies with their law enforcement. If a success, the device could similarly be adapted to protect children.

Could Your GPS Lead You Wrong?

March 5th, 2013

Harm’s Way

Apparently, even a high-tech GPS device can be misleading. In Victoria, Australia, a South Wales man was pulled over driving the wrong way down a highway, telling police that he was following his GPS instructions. An Ohio woman “turned right” as directed and found herself driving on train tracks, one minute away from an oncoming train. A Senegalese man’s GPS took him on a long drive down a short pier into a lake in Spain.

Not-So-Smooth Operator

Then again, you can never underestimate the power of inaccurate programming. A Belgian woman drove 900 miles out of her way and landed in Croatia instead of her intended destination: the train station in Brussels, a mere 90 miles from her home. She reported that she just kept following her GPS instructions, but it is inconclusive as to whether she entered the correct address.

Technical Difficulty

Aside from a driver’s programming errors, other factors can cause a navigation device to deliver inaccurate route instructions. The principal error pertains to the GPS receiver’s inaccurate time keeping. The on-board computer receives information traveling (theoretically) at light speed from three or more satellites which calculates speed, position and altitude in GPS time, which does not always synchronize with the device’s clock. The result is that calculated distances can drift. The solution? Well, there are two: one is to install an atomic clock in each receiver at a cost of $100,000. But since this option is rather cost-prohibitive, manufacturers have chosen to use some clever mathematics to determine how a GPS detects satellite signals, which in turn, allows the device’s clock to reset.

Time Warp

GPS errors can also be caused by differences in information transmission/receiving speeds or actual signal distortions. The speed of microwave signals from satellites is specific and slightly different from the rate at which a receiver detects those signals, thus allowing for a distance error rate of up to about 9 feet. Atmospheric conditions can distort a signal before it reaches the receiver, as can reflections from large, solid objects or structures. A satellite’s time keeping may also be a little off-kilter, which is why a GPS seeks to use data from at least three satellites to get more consistent updates.

Right On

Consumer-grade navigation device accuracy will likely be improved over time; military use GPS models are already at least ten times as accurate. But while you wait to get your hands on something better, it’s best to read the road signs: if they are written in a foreign language or if they indicate one-way oncoming traffic or trains, follow your nose instead of your GPS navigation system.

Singles: Beware of Dangers Finding Dates Using GPS Apps

December 7th, 2012

Technology has provided so many ways for singles to find that special someone. A complaint I’ve heard from many single friends: using an online dating site makes it hard to find someone in your area. A lot of them find wonderful people, but they’re too far away to make it really work. GPS device to the rescue, taking looking for love and bringing it to a local level. However, Jacksonville, FL’s Channel 4 Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson sees potential hazards with these new GPS apps.

“Singles Around Me,” one such app relying on your smartphone’s GPS device, reports that roughly 20,000 singles are installing the app each week. Another app, “Okcupid,” claims that one million of its three million users activate the GPS features. “How About We” says that about one in four of its users are turning to location-based dating in the hopes of finding that special someone.

“It’s revolutionizing the way people are using their phones in order to meet people in the real world,” said “How About We” co-founder Aaron Schildkrout.

How do the apps work? It varies. With some, upon check-in, the app publishes your profile and location to other singles nearby who are using the app. They can message you to arrange a meet. Some apps are less precise, publishing a general GPS location, while others pinpoint your location down to the intersection you are standing in. This type of GPS location bothers Jefferson, formerly a sex crimes detective for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

“It can be an open invitation to stalkers. It can be an open invitation to sexual offenders, pretending to be someone else for the sake of meeting other people,” Jefferson said.

One GPS dating app user recounted an experience of a man pretending to be a woman who attempted to lure him to meet up. “I could very, you know, very easily have been in danger,” he said.

Alan Rosenthal, author of “Safer Online Dating”, said, “One of the biggest problems with GPS dating is the immediacy of it.” Using traditional online dating methods there is much conversation, whether instant message or email, where you get the chance to know each other prior to meeting. With GPS on the other hand, this face to face contact can occur in minutes. Rosenthal said, “You have no time to vet them or even to think about what your actions, your interactions, or the ramifications are going to be.”

This year, there have been three separate cases of teens in Ohio, California, and Wisconsin who were sexually assaulted when they met men on the GPS app “Skout” who were posing as teens. Jefferson said, “I would advice women to just meet people the old fashioned way versus the new technology that’s out right now.”

He adds that if you do rely on your GPS device to date, set up meets in a public place, and always tell someone where you are going. Also, meeting via GPS device doesn’t mean you have to meet up right away. You can set up another day to meet, or even get to know each other through email or phone conversations before committing to a face-to-face meeting.

Avoiding “Death by GPS”

December 3rd, 2012

In August 2009, Death Valley claimed yet another life. This time it was a young boy whose mother had followed her GPS unit into the middle of nowhere. Exposure and dehydration nearly claimed the mother’s life as well before she was found by park rangers. The coordinator of Death Valley National Park reports that misdirected drivers are becoming a more common occurrence in the park, led astray by navigational devices with out-of-date maps or devices that depend on a cellular network. Unfortunately, Death Valley has extremely limited cell phone reception.

Touring the Park

Though increasing in popularity, Death Valley remains the hottest and driest park in the United States with summer temperatures averaging about 120 degrees. In the winter, temperatures can drop below freezing, making this vast expanse as deadly in winter as it is in summer. The park covers more than 3.3 million acres of land over two states, and 95 percent of it is designated as wilderness area. Though few and far between, deaths in the park due to an inaccurate GPS device could be avoided altogether if people only used common sense.

Taking the Precautions

Global positioning systems technology has become such a part of society that many people have forgotten how to use a traditional map, but when charting unfamiliar territory, it is important to carry a map and even a compass, especially if navigating off road. Since most GPS units have only the maps they were programmed with at the time of purchase, it is crucial to download map updates whenever available. Another consideration is the lack of cell phone service out in the wilderness. Many smart phones now have GPS capability, but once out of range of a tower, navigation becomes unreliable. It is even a good idea to carry extra water and locator beacons just in case that GPS device goes astray.

Tackling the Plan

Park rangers at Death Valley National Park are trying to work with makers of GPS-enabled devices to get closed or dangerous roads removed from their systems, but so far only TomTom has done what is necessary. They have made 185 updates to the road systems of Death Valley and completely removed 50 roads deemed closed or too dangerous. The park system is also posting warning signs about the climate and the dangers of relying too heavily on a GPS unit. They advise looking out the window, noting the environment, and not being afraid to turn back.

Lost Hiker Posts GPS Coordinates On Facebook

November 30th, 2012

“Anyone in the Portland area with crampons, an ice axe, a car, and Tuesday night and Wednesday off of work wanna go on an adventure?” Jeffrey Kish posted the previous message on his Facebook before heading out on a hiking trip on Mount Hood. The 30-year-old Portland resident became lost in bad weather and used social media to alert his friends. He was rescued from the mountain at around 2 a.m., mostly unscathed.

Shortly after beginning his decent down the mountain, Kish stumbled upon some bad weather. He became lost in whiteout conditions. He told reporters at KGW.com that he realized he was in trouble after visibility was reduced significantly and slipping several times. Fortunately he was prepared with a GPS tracking device and posted his coordinated on his Facebook page along with the following message: “Ok Guys. I have no idea where I am, other than right on the edge of some gnarly cliff. Too far east or west?”

Another status update reads “You’re gonna hear about it in the news anyway, may as well spill it myself. Got stuck in a storm on the summit of Mt. Hood. Stuck on cliffs over 10,000′ in a white out. Called 911 after several hours of trying to self rescue. Search and rescue has been notified. Wish me luck!”

Kish is an experienced hiker and had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, according to his Facebook information. As any experienced outdoorsman, he was prepared for bad weather. Along with a GPS device, he also had enough supplies for a few days.

The search and rescue team followed the GPS data and found no one at the original coordinates provided. Kish sent the team updated GPS location information and they found him wrapped in a sleeping bag.”These guys saved my life,” he said. The rescue team spent a few hours warming Kish, before removing him from the mountain.

GPS and Divorce: A Dangerous Combination

November 28th, 2012

Take it from Danny Lee Hormann: sometimes, using a GPS device to catch a cheating spouse in the act does not pay off. The 46 year old from Minessota affixed a GPS tracking device to his wife’s car, installed spyware on the family computer, and her cellphone in an effort to catch her cheating, culminating in Hormann following her to a lakeside cabin.

His 51 year old ex-wife, Michele Mathias says, “It was awful.” She says she never cheated in the first place, and was so bothered by Hormann’s spying she and her children combed the garage for hidden cameras, as well as conducting conversations at a whisper on their front lawn in the event he was recording them inside the home. “It wasn’t just invasion of my privacy. It was an invasion of privacy of everyone who ever texted me or anyone who was ever on my computer.”

A judge agreed, convicting Hormann of stalking and sentencing him to 30 days in jail. In his own defense he said, “Whenever I tell people about this, they say, ‘I’d have done the same darn thing.’ The technology just amazes me.”

Mr. Hormann isn’t the only person relying on high-tech software and GPS devices to find out what their spouse is up to. Because these devices are becoming cheaper and easier to use, more and more people are turning to these spy-like gadgets and software and becoming their own private investigator.

Lawyers blame this technology for “turning divorces into an arms race,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Gerry Lane is a marriage counselor based in Atlanta, and he says just about every case of infidelity that comes across his desk shows one spouse spying on the other. “If someone begins to have thoughts that they are being betrayed, they become obsessed with finding out the truth,” he said. “Privacy doesn’t exist in 2012.”

Whether or not you can rely on this use of GPS device to spy on your spouse legally depends on what state you live in. At least five out of 13 US circuit courts ruled that the Federal Wiretap Act prohibits surveillance on a spouse, while at least two have ruled the other way saying that the law does not, in fact, keep you from spying on your spouse.

Divorce lawyers say that the GPS device is not the go-to technique to spy. The most common form of snooping is actually leaving an email account open and free to peruse on the family computer, as well as leaving a smartphone laying around. This provides a golden opportunity to review texts, emails, or phone activity.

If people choose to rely on a GPS tracking device, it’s shockingly cheaper than it was a decade ago. Rather than thousands of dollars, a wannabe spy can spend a mere $179 for the LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key which is magnetized, making it perfect to attach to a spouse’s car.

Before you spy on your spouse, however, just remember that in most cases the evidence you collect might not even be admissible in court. If you collect your information in a way that makes your spouse feel threatened, you could face stalking or other related charges. What are your thoughts on spying on a spouse? We’d love to hear what you think, just leave a comment below.

GPS Technology Alerts Father Of Son’s Life-Threatening Danger

November 25th, 2012

GPS technology has aided many rescuers in saving the lives of stranded adventurers. Many outdoor enthusiasts are drawn to dangerous situations. Some are in it for the thrill and others seek a “oneness” with nature. For the most part, hikers, campers, skiers, backpackers and climbers enjoy their outdoor actives without serious incident. The smart ones know that there is always a risk of bad weather and bad luck, leaving them stranded miles from help without anyone knowing their whereabouts.

This awareness helped save a Canadian mountain climber who became stranded on Mt. Aspiring last week. Although it is unwise to climb such high altitudes so late in the year alone, the 27-year-old’s preparedness saved his life. He reached the peak of the mountain on Friday and was climbing down Saturday, when he stumbled on some bad weather. According to reports, the climber became disoriented and built a snow cave for shelter.

His father was monitoring his movements from Australia using an online GPS tracking service, called Spot Tracker. When he noticed that his son hadn’t made any progress down the mountain for several hours, he became concerned and contacted Wanaka police. “We assessed his movement. There were two options — he’d either come to grief or he’d hunkered down out of the weather,” Sergeant Paul Crosswell explained.

The LandSAR rescue team attempted to find the stranded climber via helicopter, but bad weather cut their efforts short. The father received a text from his son saying that he was cold, wet and lost. The emergency distress signal was also activated. “So we knew he was still alive but he couldn’t make his own way down,” Crosswell said. As soon as the weather cleared on Sunday, the team used the GPS tracking signal to rescue the stranded climber. He was taken to the nearest hospital and treated for dehydration and snow blindness.

Think Twice Before Swiping that iPad

November 9th, 2012

GPS locating technology has gotten very, very accurate on many personal electronic devices. So accurate that, in at least one case, police were able to pinpoint the very apartment unit that was the current location of a stolen iPad. The thieves never saw the bust coming.

Before you start feeling nostalgic for the good old days, when police had to search for clues at the scene of a theft and rely on witnesses for physical descriptions of the thieves, consider the other items that officers found in this particular apartment. Boxes of stolen credit cards had the potential to defraud innocent victims out of millions of dollars. Stolen electronics such as computers were worth thousands of dollars on their own, not to mention sensitive information stored on them. Perhaps worst of all, large quantities of a date-rape drug, presumably for sale, were in the apartment as well. The GPS locating app on the iPad probably played an important part in keeping that dangerous drug from hurting many innocent victims.

The bust was thanks to a traveler from Alberta who was spending time with friends in Vancouver, British Columbia. Returning to her friend’s house to find her iPad and other possessions stolen, she wasn’t content to leave the search to the police. Having installed a GPS application on the iPad, she looked up the location and saw that the signal was apparently coming from an apartment building in Vancouver.

When the police saw the data, they had good reason to believe that it was accurate: the apartment building, and even the specific unit marked by the GPS locating signal, was rented by suspected thieves that had acted before in the area. In just a short amount of time, four people were in police custody, accused of multiple breaking and entering incidents and thefts. Efforts to return the other stolen goods to their owners are underway via claims made by victims and by posting the items online for victims to view.

It’s hard to imagine a more effective theft deterrent than a device that can broadcast a signal from its current location. Police around the world may have a little extra time on their hands as these helpful GPS trackers find their way onto more pieces of electronic equipment.

Geolocate With Caution

November 3rd, 2012

Sharing real-time location data with friends is a lot of fun. Nearly anyone who has just bought a smartphone or iPhone knows how tempting it can be to spend hours uploading photos of himself and looking up photos of acquaintances to see where they have been or where they are at that very moment. But, like most things that are really fun, geolocation is best when restricted by a few careful guidelines.

Consider for a moment just what you are doing when you post a photo of yourself on Facebook with geolocation tags attached. You are proclaiming to everyone with access to that photo exactly where you are at that moment. If you repeat the process often, you give those people a simple way to identify your daily patterns, workplace, favorite restaurants, family members’ homes, kids’ school…and the list goes on. Is that really information that you want to make so readily available to a very large group of people?

The issues become even murkier when those posting the photos are teenagers or even young children. Predation has become even more dangerous with the coming of the digital age, and it is possible that one of a young person’s Facebook followers could be a criminal instead of a friend. This is a brand new problem for parents to grapple with–it’s never before been possible for a young person to widely broadcast, sometimes on an hourly basis, exactly where they are and what they are doing.

Information gathering by companies is yet another area of concern. In the best case scenario, generous geolocation can cause you to become buried under targeted advertisements from annoying, but legitimate, businesses. But are you willing to bet that there aren’t a few hackers and scammers also picking up that information? You might not find out for sure until identity theft has already occurred.

How can we combat these dangers? Remember that you never have to submit geolocation data. You can always turn off the GPS function on your phone or device, activating it only when you need it. It can be easy to forget that your phone is logging your location constantly, but taking the initiative to control that activity will set your mind at ease–and get you back at least a little of the privacy that is becoming ever rarer.