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Feb. 22, 2003, 10:01PM
GPS devices increasingly are used to spy on people
By FRANK JAMES
Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON -- While GPS technology that uses satellites has been a
boon to millions who don't want to get lost, others increasingly are
turning to the same technology to track people and keep an eye on
them.
Spouses who believe mates are having affairs, employers who suspect
workers are misusing company vehicles or parents who wonder if their
children are where they are supposed to be are among those using
devices tied to the global positioning system of satellites.
At Washington's WJLA-TV, employees say officials at the station have
abused the technology. Last year, management installed tracking
devices in station vehicles -- cars and trucks that news crewmembers
are permitted to take home.
Officials at the station, an ABC affiliate, have said the devices
are to let editors know where vehicles are for newsgathering purposes
so that the closest crew can be dispatched.
But employees said the devices have been used to monitor them. As
one cameraman drove along a highway, a manager phoned to tell him to
stop driving so fast.
Company officials confronted another cameraman, wanting to know why
the company car was driven on the employee's day off.
"You have managers who call you and say, `Why have you stopped here,
why did you stop there?' " said a news cameraman who asked not to be
identified. "You're like, `I had to go to the bathroom,' or `I had to
get something to eat.' "
The station's general manager, Chris Pike, didn't return several
calls for comment.
While such GPS tracking is legal, the trend has contributed to the
looming sense that the United States is increasingly a surveillance
society, especially in the wake of stepped-up, terrorism-related
security.
The tracking also has created a backlash, with some subjects of
electronic tracking seeking to thwart the technology.
"Location tracking can be a considerably significant invasion of
privacy," said Lee Tien, senior counsel for the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization concerned with civil
liberties and technology issues.
"Who has access to that information?" he asked. "Under what
circumstances? A lot of people don't think about what it means for
your employer to be able to know where you go throughout your day. Or
an insurance company."
The satellite technology used for tracking relies on the same
network widely used for navigation. GPS navigation is what allows
U.S. cruise missiles to explode on, or within feet of, selected
targets. Recovery workers marked the location of space shuttle
Columbia debris with GPS devices. Many rental cars now come with GPS
displays that let customers find addresses in unfamiliar cities.
Meanwhile, Oregon is considering the feasibility of installing GPS
technology in the cars of its residents to record how many in-state
miles they drive as the state considers imposing car-related taxes
based on road-mileage-driven versus fuel purchased.
GPS may have even figured in one of the most notorious crime sprees
in recent U.S. history. Last year, when the Washington-area sniper
suspects were arrested, a GPS device was among the items found in
their possession. Investigators speculate it might have helped them
evade police dragnets by taking side streets instead of major roads.
A network of 24 geo-stationary satellites broadcasts signals
received by GPS devices. Using triangulation, the satellites help the
devices gain a fix on their location anywhere on Earth.
While the navigational functions of GPS have caused little or no
clamor, tracking has caused a stir. The devices can not only indicate
direction but the speed at which a vehicle or person is moving and
the precise address they have visited.
Some tracking is meant to protect the vulnerable. Wherify Wireless
Inc., for example, makes a high-tech bracelet containing a GPS device
and tiny wireless phone that can be placed on the wrists of children
or Alzheimer's patients to help locate them if they get lost. Some
companies offer tracking technology to the anxious parents of teenage
drivers so they can know not only where their children are going but
how fast they were driving. The devices cost about $400.
"If you look at our (tracking) technology, it way overweighs the bad
that people can do with it," said Timothy Neher, founder and
president of the company. Neher got the idea for the devices after a
scary moment during a zoo visit when he was momentarily separated
from two young relatives in his care.
Trucking firms have used GPS tracking for years to keep tabs on
their drivers and shipments. But concerns about the potential use of
the data for discipline purposes caused the Teamsters union to
include specific language prohibiting such use in the contract it
reached with United Parcel Service last August.