GLOBAL POSITION SYSTEM Tracking devices' legality not yet tested, experts say

Unwanted tracking could lead to charges of trespassing or criminal mischief.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Tracking devices have become increasingly available to consumers, but the law has yet to explore the ramifications of using them to secretly monitor individuals, legal experts say.
Global Position System technology is available for less than $200, and even comes embedded in some cell phones, but experts say misdemeanor charges of trespassing or criminal mischief are the only legal recourse individuals have for unwanted tracking.
"This raises new issues," said Peter Swire, a privacy expert and law professor at Ohio State University. "Tracking people secretly is a worry. I think it would be good to clarify that strangers can't put these on your car without permission."
Placed inside a vehicle, a GPS device can monitor routes, speed and how long a vehicle stops at a destination. The information can be stored into its memory to be retrieved later, said Harold Gardner, sales manager at Advanced Tracking Technology Inc. in Houston.
Other devices send signals through cell phone towers, allowing users to monitor locations on the Internet.
Some parents use the devices to monitor the whereabouts of teenage drivers, said Gardner, whose company sold 10,000 GPS devices last year.
Top buyer of GPS
But the bulk of buyers are businesses such as trucking companies and plumbing contractors who use the units to track their fleets, Gardner said.
He said some of the corporate customers have a 30 percent reduction in mileage on company cars after the tracking systems are installed.
"From a business perspective, I always advise my employers to tell their employees what's going on," Gardner said.
The Ohio Investigative Unit, which enforces state liquor laws, used the technology to show an agent was lying about his overtime work. Agent Terence Taylor lost his job after the device was attached to a state car he used last year.
The technology poses a risk to individual privacy and should be carefully monitored, said Jeff Gamso, Ohio legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union.
"We are living in a surveillance society," he said. "As you travel about, you are more and more subject to surveillance by government, by private businesses, by your neighbors maybe."
Officials for the State Highway Patrol and Columbus police said they seek judicial approval before using GPS technology in criminal investigations.
"As a tool to investigate people, we have a lot more hoops to jump through than just you wanting to put one on your daughter's car," Columbus police spokeswoman Betty Schwab said.