Privacy Concerns of GPS Technology

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A global positioning system (GPS) uses satellites above the Earth to compute the location of a GPS receiver.

• GPS receivers can be incorporated into many devices and use several different satellites to calculate time and location
  • E.g.,
    • used in automobile navigation units
    • Runners use GPS receivers built into heart rate monitors to help measure the distances that they have run
    • built into many cell phones to help locate cell phone users in an emergency
    • applications also use GPS technology to track other users and family members
• precisely tracks a receiver’s every step
• may not know that their cars or cell phones have GPS units that track their every move
• very little control over the location information that a GPS unit can track and provide
• U.S. v. Jones (2012)
  • government initially got a search warrant to install the GPS device on the defendant’s car
  • did not follow the terms of that search warrant when they installed the device
  • Court held that, for the installation of the GPS unit to be valid, police officers must get a search warrant and execute it properly
  • held that installing a GPS unit on a car is considered a search under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Note

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Enhanced 911 (E911) initiative requires cell phone carriers to be able to pinpoint their customers’ locations within 100 meters.

• allows emergency responders to reach cell phone users more quickly in a crisis
• GPS is one of the technologies used to help pinpoint customer location