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These days we hear a lot about GPS tracking. It’s in the news, online, and on everyone’s minds. However, the practical applications of GPS technology are more far-reaching than most people realize. These are just a few of the possibilities when it comes to the uses for this incredible modern gadget.

Emergency Tracking – We all wonder about worst-case scenarios. The what ifs of life keep us up at night pondering what we would do in an emergency. GPS technology gives everyday Americans the ability to rest easy, knowing that in an emergency situation they could be found using the coordinates provided by their GPS.

Fleet Tracking – Whether you operate a delivery service or own a convoy of ships, fleet tracking can save your business both time and money. By keeping track of each vehicle your organization will have the ability to keep a tighter schedule and prevent problems before they start.

Athletics Tracking – For runners and cyclists, sports are frequently a solitary event. Alone on a mountain path or a lonely road, athletes are provided with a measure of security when they carry a GPS tracker. In the event that he does not come home at the designated time, the athlete’s family can locate his whereabouts and assist him as needed.

Teen Tracking – Looking after America’s teens is becoming an increasingly difficult task. For diligent parents teen tracking often seems like a practical solution. By keeping track of your teenager’s whereabouts you can more easily protect her from negative influences.

Spouse Tracking – Tracking your spouse may seem like an extreme measure; however, for a concerned wife, wondering about her husband’s whereabouts can lead to emotional trauma and long-term hurt. Spouse tracking is one of the easiest ways to prove infidelity or simply to set your mind at ease concerning a faithful husband.

Military Tracking – The mass populous is most likely unaware of the true value of GPS to the military. One thing is for certain, however: the ability to track troops, weapons, and supplies could mean the difference between life and death for members of the armed forces.

Employee Tracking – There are many occasions when workers are sent to remote locations for field work. Whether pursuing humanitarian aid or simply on a business trip employees working in the bush can utilize GPS tracking as a preventative measure.

Article Written by Janice Grover

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Numerous studies have shown that walking is good for you. Some studies even suggest that people who live in walkable towns weigh less. Recently, Walk Score (a company that ranks cities according to walkability) published a list of the top walkable cities in the U.S. If you live in one of these cities, put your car keys down and start walking!

1. New York City
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. Philadelphia
6. Seattle
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Miami
9. Minneapolis
10. Oakland

Walk Score also published a list of the “least walkable” cities in the U.S. To view that list click here.

Article Written by Harriette Halepis

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With the United States Supreme Court ready to rule on the legal limits of warrantless GPS tracking, many stories are popping up all over the internet, voicing different sides of the argument. GPS technology is very advanced, and it can no doubt aid police in bringing criminals to justice. The real question lies with who is best qualified to determine whether or not GPS tracking is warranted.

On one side of the fence, the argument is that GPS tracking is not so different from routine surveillance. Currently, it is perfectly legal for police to follow subjects on foot or in a vehicle in order to gain evidence. The Supreme Court actually set a precedence for this argument, in 1983.

The question, back then, was regarding a similar tracking technology, using radio frequency. Police would plant radio-based tracking devices on suspect’s property, to use to gather evidence against them.

At that time, the court decided, “Nothing in the Fourth Amendment prohibited the police from augmenting their sensory faculties with such enhancement as science and technology afforded them in this case.”

Others have argued, with success in the Court of Appeals, that GPS tracking crosses the boundary of citizen’s reasonable right to privacy, as dictated by the Fourth Amendment.

When criminal or suspect activity is committed in public, there is no reasonable right to privacy, which is why police don’t need a warrant to use their eyes to track suspects in public. Law enforcement does, however, need a warrant when they wish to continue a search, passed what their eyes can see. Entering a residence or a locked trunk, to look for evidence, requires a warrant from a judge.

Police augmenting their sensory faculties, by opening locked doors, is considered an invasion of privacy without reasonable cause or a warrant. The ACLU, and quite a few defense attorneys agree, if the evidence cannot be collected with the eyes and ears of the officer, it requires approval from a judge. The Supreme Court Judges will make their decision in the coming months, on whether or not a warrant is required for GPS tracking.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

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With all the buzz about who’s tracking who (whether Apple, an employer, or the government), it was only a matter of time before laws protecting individual privacy were proposed.

A Representative from Utah, Jason Chaffetz, has brought “The Geolocational Surveillance and Privacy Act” to the table.  Chaffetz believes that citizen’s rights to privacy have been violated by law enforcement, stating “…they have, right now, the ability to take a GPS device, put it on the bottom of your car and follow you without ever getting a search warrant.  I think the American public deserves and expects a degree of personal privacy.  We in America don’t work on a presumption of guilt.”

The bill, if passed, would make tracking an individual’s location through use of GPS with any electronic, cell phones included, illegal if a warrant is not obtained prior to tracking.  The bill also targets people who track others using GPS technology.  “Currently, if your stalker ex-boyfriend taps your phone, he is breaking the law [but] if he hacks your GPS to track your movements, he isn’t…” Chaffetz told press.

The proposed bill would protect citizens both within the U.S. and abroad. Seemingly, if it is illegal to wiretap a citizen without a warrant, it should be illegal to track citizens via GPS tracking technology. This is, after all, the home of the free.

Article Written by Khristen Foss

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A GPS unit is one of the most popular items to own these days, but not everyone wants to pay for one. Theft of portable GPS units is on the rise and unless you’ve unwisely left your car window down or your doors unlocked, you could be looking at an expensive repair bill.

The more common ways to steal a GPS unit are to break a window, pry open a door or tear off the door lock. By the time someone responds to your car alarm or you hear it yourself, the thief is on to the next job. Over the holidays several airports in Florida were hit by a rash of thefts, leaving returning vacationers to find their cars broken into and damaged and their GPS units missing.

Possibly because they felt more secure in a parking garage or because they were rushing to catch a flight, many of the victims did not stash their units in a glove box or out of sight. Others neglected to lock their doors. Whatever the reason, the units run anywhere from $300 to $1,000, a significant loss.
There are some steps an owner can take to discourage theft of a GPS unit. Number one is to not tempt fate (or a potential criminal) by leaving the unit in plain view. Put it in the glove box, lock it in the trunk, take it with you, even stash it under the seat, but never, ever leave it out. A close second to this is to get rid of the telltale suction cup mark that is left on the dash when you remove the unit. Otherwise, someone will break in anyway because you’ve advertised that you own a GPS unit and, more times than not, it will be found in the vehicle. A microfiber cloth stored in the car works well to remove the suction ring.

Take some precautions with your GPS unit so that you’re not issuing an invitation to steal it. They are very attractive targets because they are easy to steal and also easy to sell on the internet. A few sensible precautions, while not foolproof, can go a long way toward discouraging theft and an expensive car repair. And finally – admittedly low tech but possibly the most effective solution if you can’t do anything else – throw a baseball cap over the entire unit and go.

Article Written by Greg Bartlett

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Few Americans have spent any length of time in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whether because of the heat, the dangers, or simply fear of the unknown, they seldom venture onto the Savanna, and thus have little understanding of its wildlife. Typically, an American’s closest encounter with a lion is from behind a sheet of specialized glass at the local zoo. The wild lions of Africa experience a far different lifestyle from their cultivated counterparts – one which only GPS trackers are able to record.

Recently, a group of scientists began using GPS tracking devices to monitor the location of wild lions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their purpose, however, was not entirely to protect the lions, but also to defend African livestock from attack. Apparently, the animals’ owners were tired of losing valuable property to the paws of hungry, stronger wildlife. The trackers were placed around the necks of “problem lions” that were known for their destructive behavior. Once the tracking collar was activated, the location of its lion could be consistently monitored.

On the flip side of the coin, Africa’s lions are themselves at risk and in need of protection from poachers who would seek to destroy them. In these situations the tracking collar worn by a lion is not merely a means of protecting his prey, but also of assuring that he does not fall victim himself. If a lion goes to close to a location where poachers are known to hunt, the caretakers overseeing him can quickly intervene to protect Africa’s wildlife from harm.

Africa’s population of wild lions has dropped excessively in recent years. A century ago 100,000 of these magnificent creatures could be counted across the continent. Today, a shocking 23,000 roam free. And while much of the killing was done by owners seeking to protect their livestock, many lions were needlessly slain by greedy poachers looking to make a mint off of their pelts.

Whether out of a desire to save the lion or his prey, GPS tracking has become a popular means of watching over the activity of Africa’s population of lions. Scientists and land owners alike are intrigued by the concept. Lions may be one of Earth’s most dangerous predators, but they also represent and irreplaceable part of the world’s wildlife. The use of GPS technology to monitor them gives us a chance to protect not only Africa’s cultivated animal population, but also its wild one.

Article Written by Greg Bartlett

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A Florida man recently stalked his wife with a GPS tracking device. The Jacksonville, Florida man’s wife no longer wanted anything to do with him. However, James Crosby placed a GPS tracker on his wife’s automobile and watched her movements. As he tracked his wife’s movements, he could tell from his computer where she was going and where her car was parked. This Florida GPS stalking incident takes stalking to a new level of technological advancement.

In case you didn’t think that this story could get any creepier, he also snuck into her home and stole her underwear. Purportedly, her son let him in. Florida police also said that Crosby installed a key logger onto her computer in order to monitor her activity.

James Crosby has been charged with simple stalking by Florida police. The evidence of key logging and GPS tracking device stalking will be used in the court case against him.

As for the stealing of his wife’s underwear? I’m pretty sure the court of public opinion has already deemed that “unbelievably creepy and weird.”

While this is neither the first nor the last time that someone will use a GPS device to track his or her ex lover, it is just another case in a series of fairly high-profile incidents involving GPS trackers. This Florida GPS tracking incident just goes to show that people are finding savvy and innovative ways to track people using GPS devices. GPS stalking is here to stay, and it is up to individuals and companies in the GPS field to find safeguards around such creepy and boundary crossing practices.

Article Written by Greg Minton

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Florida police officers constantly have a GPS tracking device on their
fleet cars. This is in order to aid in emergency response, and in the
event of wrongdoing of police misdeeds, they can be used as
corroborative evidence.

This, however, was not the case for a St. Petersburg, Florida police officer who rear-ended a van with his police cruiser then sped off. He then disabled his Florida GPS tracking device so that his supervisor could not track his behavior.

GPS Removal Consequences

Although the officer, Christopher Dixon, was acquitted by a judge in the hit-and-run case, he could still be subject to disciplinary actionby the police squad.

“We want to read the transcripts, and if the statements suggest a violation of policy, we could open an internal investigation,” St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman Bill Proffitt told the St. Petersburg Times.

Dixon said, in his trial, that he knew how to disable the Florida
fleet GPS tracking device – which can be done by simply unplugging the
laptop that is in the vehicle – and had done so several times during
his first year as a police officer.

Why Did The Officer Unplug His GPS Tracking Device?

Disabling a GPS tracking device is in clear violation of the police
department rules. As he has testified in court that he broke the rules
by unplugging the Florida GPS tracking device in order to conceal how
fast he had been driving, the police department has enough evidence to
invoke disciplinary action. .

Dixon argues that he only wanted to hide how fast he was going so that
he could exceed the 25 mph leniency allowed officers in emergencies.
“I felt that I needed to respond quickly.”

The St. Petersburg, Florida police department will be making a
decision about Dixon’s future employment with the St. Petersburg
Police Department within the next few months.

Article Written by Greg Minton

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Just in time for the holiday season, police report that GPS tracking devices in Philadelphia are being stolen at an increasingly higher rate than previous holiday seasons. The unemployment rate is partly responsible for this growing trend, according to authorities. In addition, the increased ubiquity of such GPS devices is responsible.

It used to be the case that the universally stolen device from cars was the car stereo. Not any more. Car stereos can be difficult to remove from car dashboards, and are less valuable today than they were in the 90s as production costs has gone down.

GPS devices, on the other hand, are very valuable. They can be quickly resold on the market for hundreds of dollars. To thieves in the Philadelphia area, this high liquidity means “instant cash.”

Why Are Thieves Stealing GPS Devices?

GPS tracking devices are very visible when they are in cars. Suction cupped to car windshields, they often advertise to thieves: “Easy, valuable steal.” This, according to Philadelphia police, is a gold mine for drug addicts in need of a quick fix. “Almost everybody has them now. GPS is the new radio and much easier to steal,” Upper Moreland police chief Thomast Nestel said to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “People are still putting the bait out there.”

Even if the GPS devices are only sold at a fraction of their value, this can satiate the addiction of drug addicts and junkies who need quick cash. $50 in the pocket is worth far more than a $200 GPS device to a thief.

Police departments in the Philadelphia area, as well as police in Delaware County and Montgomery County, recommend that individuals remove their GPS devices from their cars before exiting. In addition, they should wipe the suction cup marks from their windshields – suction cup marks are tell-tale signs of a present GPS device.

Article Written by Greg Minton

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GPS Fleet Tracking provides the answer to a question that hundreds of business owners are asking: “How do I keep my fleet of vehicles running without going broke or losing my mind?” Consider, for a moment, the amount of brainpower that is used daily to manage vehicle fleets across the globe. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of vehicles in each individual delivery business travel out everyday, sometimes across the country. A fleet manager or business owner must keep track of the locations and movements of these vehicles, and work towards efficiency on the job.

Imagine a harried pet owner walking his or her hyper dogs, constantly yelling or scolding to keep them in line. That picture resembles a fleet manager minus a GPS system: constantly calling drivers, asking for locations, and looking at maps. A fleet manager with a GPS tracking system, on the other hand, resembles that same owner but with a large leash for every animal–no harried yelling or scolding. The pets are exactly where their owner guides them.

GPS tracking allows fleet managers to keep a constant eye on their employees without persistent calls, radio chatter, or map consultation. Each vehicle is outfitted with a device which communicates with satellites. A central operating system records the information given by each device, and fleet managers can use these devices to either keep an up to the minute eye on their drivers or simply make logs for review when necessary.

A fleet of vehicles without one of these systems is likely a fleet of vehicles wasting company time, gas money, and payroll. A GPS tracking system allows companies to cut down on these expenses, drastically reducing vehicle idling, side trips, and lack of productivity. Of course, GPS tracking systems aren’t just for those big delivery companies. Smaller delivery companies, businesses with traveling employees, and even school systems should consider this technology. Deliveries can be efficiently and accurately tracked, employees kept productive and safe, and school buses directed throughout their routes.

In this tight economy, it’s easy to think of reasons not to invest in more “gadgets.” However, this economy also requires on up-to-date technology for an entity’s success. The businesses that don’t keep up get left behind. Investing in good, efficient technology can actually save money and boost productivity. Look into in one of these reliable pieces of technology today!

Article Written by Greg Bartlett

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