I wrote this post in another thread but figured it deserved its own thread. It's a hodgepodge of what I learned about LE GPS tracking devices. These days even DeWalt, the tool company, makes them. Search around the net and you can find the manufacturer's websites with technical data, video demos and all kinds of good info.
GPS trackers were on my mind recently due to some suspicious type activity I noticed and did some online research into the units themselves. Then I did a sweep of the interior and underside of my vehicle. Car was clean and I won't put myself in that sketchy situation again. I think I just freaked myself out but I learned some things in the process.
Anyway, some things I learned:
The ones used today by LE are still pretty large (at least 3"x2"x3") and are mounted either with two sided tape or magnets. They have a battery that needs replacement (or charging) approximately once a week. This pretty much rules out any interior placement of the device in your car unless they plan to taking your car within a week. Also because you would probably find it while cleaning out the stale french fries between the seats. Your car should never be left unlocked anyway.
Some have hard wired power connections but those wouldn't be used by LE due to time for install, varieties of cars, as well as possible technical problems like the unit making your car stall out or something. LE is also somewhat limited in where the device can be placed. If too near the engine, then RF interference from the engine is possible as well as heat issues if the GPS housing is plastic. Same goes for wheel wells where brake heat gets very high and exhaust pipe/muffler areas. Therefore, most are mounted in the rear half of the car under the trunk area (but away from exhaust pipes). Check around hanging spare tires and stuff! Don't leave any area under the car unchecked though! Search everything! Laziness is not a good trait when you're trying to stay out of jail! There are aluminum housings so never assume a mounting place is impossible. Just wait for the car to completely cool off and get your hands in all the nooks and crannies of the underside looking for a little box with nothing else attached to it.
The trackers don't send real-time data to the police through the satellites. Instead, they use cell phone networks (Verizon and T-Mobile were the dominant networks I saw) and "call" home with stored location info (sent via SMS, text msg, or phone signal), which are user programmable times and/or events like the GPS turning on when car starts (some have vibration sensors). That info goes into a computer database, accessed through a web-based front end with report creating capabilities (thanks Google Earth). The units obviously can't be any smaller than your average low end cell phone!
The tiny "bugs" that you see in movies are only used in movies. They don't exist for real GPS tracking, or at least for what your average local PD can afford and obtain. FBI, CIA, etc probably has stuff like in movies but if those peeps are on your ass then good luck bro. GPS is the least of your worries.
There's a variety of small USB GPS trackers that are advertised on infomercials called the TrackStick. It's a low budget chinese knock off type designed for wives to track cheating spouses or the like. They are substantially smaller than the types of devices described above. The catch is that they have no communication features and are just USB devices, the smallest is not much bigger than a thumb drive but there are larger versions. They must be removed from the vehicle, hooked up to a laptop, the data downloaded, and reinstalled/recharged. The battery life is advertised at 80 hours, but probably a couple days in reality. I doubt LE uses these sorts of devices because of the constant physical contact needed with the device, the short battery life and 2 hours to recharge or battery replacement, lack of communications, cheap plastic housing, and the relative inability to "certify" the data as being accurate for evidentiary purposes. There are several variations of this USB theme but they are all roughly the same. The exact info is on their website. I don't know for sure that LE doesn't use these but they do have better options available for their purposes, and buying GPS devices from informercials doesn't seem very "cop like".
Overall they are pretty advanced pieces of equipment (some use similar GPS technology to car GPS systems with gyroscopes and the like) but they still must be physically attached to your car and not be noticed, while holding a relatively short battery charge. At roughly 3" square and easily reached for attachment, and removal for battery replacement, you should NOT miss one if you routinely check the underside of your vehicle. They have been ruled constitutional but since you did not consent to the installation, if you find one, do whatever you want with it! (after you finish shitting yourself and breaking down your op of course! Some have "tampering" alerts they call out when messed with.) They are for record-keeping and evidentiary purposes, not so much for actively tracking where you are driving at any given moment. No one is sitting at a computer screen watching your car as a little blip driving to your mom's house or the hydro shop. They are pulling the records for probable cause and evidence to build a case against you based on your movements over time.
There are active GPS trackers but they are big, expensive, and require special hookups (think OnStar). No LE would use something like that. The most often reporting I saw for LE suitable devices was 5-10 seconds and that's the length of the cell phone call needed to send the data to the database. Companies with fleets of 18-wheelers use active real-time monitoring systems.
I saw "bug scanners" for sale online that claim to find all manner of bugs, including GPS based on the frequencies the devices use. I don't know if they work but they sell for $450 and up. Seems expensive when you can just eyeball the underside of your car with a flashlight for the cost of the flashlight and a little knowledge of what you're looking for.
If cops are tracking the GPS in your cell phone then you already screwed up way too much and it's only a matter of time before they arrest you. If you suspect something like that or have any concerns then either do NOT take your cell phone when you drive or take the battery out of the phone completely. If you have a GPS system in your car then you can just remove the fuse to disable the system electrically.
Hope this helps some people understand GPS tracking used by LE a bit better.
GPS trackers were on my mind recently due to some suspicious type activity I noticed and did some online research into the units themselves. Then I did a sweep of the interior and underside of my vehicle. Car was clean and I won't put myself in that sketchy situation again. I think I just freaked myself out but I learned some things in the process.
Anyway, some things I learned:
The ones used today by LE are still pretty large (at least 3"x2"x3") and are mounted either with two sided tape or magnets. They have a battery that needs replacement (or charging) approximately once a week. This pretty much rules out any interior placement of the device in your car unless they plan to taking your car within a week. Also because you would probably find it while cleaning out the stale french fries between the seats. Your car should never be left unlocked anyway.
Some have hard wired power connections but those wouldn't be used by LE due to time for install, varieties of cars, as well as possible technical problems like the unit making your car stall out or something. LE is also somewhat limited in where the device can be placed. If too near the engine, then RF interference from the engine is possible as well as heat issues if the GPS housing is plastic. Same goes for wheel wells where brake heat gets very high and exhaust pipe/muffler areas. Therefore, most are mounted in the rear half of the car under the trunk area (but away from exhaust pipes). Check around hanging spare tires and stuff! Don't leave any area under the car unchecked though! Search everything! Laziness is not a good trait when you're trying to stay out of jail! There are aluminum housings so never assume a mounting place is impossible. Just wait for the car to completely cool off and get your hands in all the nooks and crannies of the underside looking for a little box with nothing else attached to it.
The trackers don't send real-time data to the police through the satellites. Instead, they use cell phone networks (Verizon and T-Mobile were the dominant networks I saw) and "call" home with stored location info (sent via SMS, text msg, or phone signal), which are user programmable times and/or events like the GPS turning on when car starts (some have vibration sensors). That info goes into a computer database, accessed through a web-based front end with report creating capabilities (thanks Google Earth). The units obviously can't be any smaller than your average low end cell phone!
The tiny "bugs" that you see in movies are only used in movies. They don't exist for real GPS tracking, or at least for what your average local PD can afford and obtain. FBI, CIA, etc probably has stuff like in movies but if those peeps are on your ass then good luck bro. GPS is the least of your worries.
There's a variety of small USB GPS trackers that are advertised on infomercials called the TrackStick. It's a low budget chinese knock off type designed for wives to track cheating spouses or the like. They are substantially smaller than the types of devices described above. The catch is that they have no communication features and are just USB devices, the smallest is not much bigger than a thumb drive but there are larger versions. They must be removed from the vehicle, hooked up to a laptop, the data downloaded, and reinstalled/recharged. The battery life is advertised at 80 hours, but probably a couple days in reality. I doubt LE uses these sorts of devices because of the constant physical contact needed with the device, the short battery life and 2 hours to recharge or battery replacement, lack of communications, cheap plastic housing, and the relative inability to "certify" the data as being accurate for evidentiary purposes. There are several variations of this USB theme but they are all roughly the same. The exact info is on their website. I don't know for sure that LE doesn't use these but they do have better options available for their purposes, and buying GPS devices from informercials doesn't seem very "cop like".
Overall they are pretty advanced pieces of equipment (some use similar GPS technology to car GPS systems with gyroscopes and the like) but they still must be physically attached to your car and not be noticed, while holding a relatively short battery charge. At roughly 3" square and easily reached for attachment, and removal for battery replacement, you should NOT miss one if you routinely check the underside of your vehicle. They have been ruled constitutional but since you did not consent to the installation, if you find one, do whatever you want with it! (after you finish shitting yourself and breaking down your op of course! Some have "tampering" alerts they call out when messed with.) They are for record-keeping and evidentiary purposes, not so much for actively tracking where you are driving at any given moment. No one is sitting at a computer screen watching your car as a little blip driving to your mom's house or the hydro shop. They are pulling the records for probable cause and evidence to build a case against you based on your movements over time.
There are active GPS trackers but they are big, expensive, and require special hookups (think OnStar). No LE would use something like that. The most often reporting I saw for LE suitable devices was 5-10 seconds and that's the length of the cell phone call needed to send the data to the database. Companies with fleets of 18-wheelers use active real-time monitoring systems.
I saw "bug scanners" for sale online that claim to find all manner of bugs, including GPS based on the frequencies the devices use. I don't know if they work but they sell for $450 and up. Seems expensive when you can just eyeball the underside of your car with a flashlight for the cost of the flashlight and a little knowledge of what you're looking for.
If cops are tracking the GPS in your cell phone then you already screwed up way too much and it's only a matter of time before they arrest you. If you suspect something like that or have any concerns then either do NOT take your cell phone when you drive or take the battery out of the phone completely. If you have a GPS system in your car then you can just remove the fuse to disable the system electrically.
Hope this helps some people understand GPS tracking used by LE a bit better.
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