(This is the fourth posting in a series about safety in this digital age. Click here to read the previous article in the series.)

Cell phone surveillance does have many valid purposes.  Employers often need to track their employees during work hours, and it is legal to use such systems as long as the employees know it is on the vehicle.  Some parents use this technology to monitor their young children, particularly those who may stray or are not old enough to care for themselves.  In addition, such technology is commonly used by parents on the vehicles driven by their teenagers.  For a small fee, one can easily contact their cell phone service provider and transform their cellular phone into a surveillance and GPS tracking device.  Although the federal wiretap law prohibits many forms of electronic communication monitoring, 18 U.S.C. § 2510(12)(C) specifically excludes signals by mobile tracking devices like GPS.

Predictably, GPS technology is sometimes abused by individuals wanting to stalk their spouse or significant other.  Obviously, such misuse is illegal, but many abusers are undeterred.  New technology also exists to illegally register a phone via the internet for GPS surveillance, with the thief paying for this surveillance on his own credit card. Thus, advise clients not to loan their cell phone to anyone whom they do not trust even for a few minutes because one may never know if he is being tracked via his cell phone since the charges for this service do not show up on the cell phone owner’s statements. Clients should also know that soon-to-be-ex-spouses sometimes put GPS software on the children’s cell phones for improper purposes, such as following their spouse when the child is with the other parent.

GPS devices are also easily placed in PDAs, pocket PCs, running watches, and vehicle navigation systems (OnStar).  GPS devices are frequently hidden in automobiles. The most popular locations are inside the plastic bumper, in the gap between the windshield and the hood, inside stereo speakers, in the front dash, under rear dash fabric, or in the rear dash/third brake light. It is easy to hide these devices, and many are also capable of tracking the cars in real time as well as having the ability to record the car’s speed. The features are particularly useful to confirm a spouse is cheating or more importantly, if a spouse is driving dangerously at high speeds with the child(ren) in the car.

Sherri Peak, of Seattle, Washington, was stalked by her ex-husband through a cell phone equipped with a GPS that he had attached to the battery of her car.   Sherri filed for divorce when her husband become overly possessive and questioned her whereabouts throughout the day.  After they separated, her husband began showing up everywhere she went.  After six months of this behavior, Sherri asked police detectives to search her car to find out how her husband knew her every move. The detectives found a tracking device made from an ordinary cell phone under her dashboard. The charger was wired into her car’s electrical system so that every time Sherri started her car, the phone would charge.  He also set the ringer to silent so the phone automatically answered whenever he called, but without her knowledge. Thus, he could listen to everything going on in her car.  The cell phone was also equipped with a GPS system with a companion computer program so Sherri’s ex-husband tracked her every move. (See the link in Footnote 15 for a video account of Sherri’s ordeal.)

Sherri’s ex-husband was ultimately arrested.  He plead guilty to felony stalking and served eight months in jail. When the police arrested him, they also found keys to Sherri’s house, night vision goggles, computer spyware, print-outs of emails Sherri sent to other people, and bank account numbers and passwords. This story is not highly unusual; according to one source, three out of every four stalking victims are terrorized by threats of violence or death at the same time they are being monitored and followed.

To avoid having an estranged spouse, stalker or ex-spouse from using GPS technology to track a client, advise the client to contact their cell phone service provider and ask if location services have been added to his or her service plan. In addition, advise clients to set up their own cellular phone account and make it password protected so no one else can access account records or change account settings. Clients should also beware cell phone “gifts.”  The reason for this warning is that the cell phone may have GPS and other monitoring technology downloaded on it, and the recipient may not want the giver to have the ability to track down his or her whereabouts.  Finally, tell clients to set Bluetooth to “hidden” and GPS to “911 only,” especially when in public areas. As to GPS devises attached to vehicles, find a knowledgeable detective or car repairman familiar with the hiding places to locate any hidden devices.

Check back soon for the next article in the series:  Spyware and Your Safety

[1] Michael Russell, Cell Phone GPS Surveillance, http://ezinearticles.com/?Cell-Phone-GPS-Surveillance&id =510569 (last visited Nov. 9, 2009).

[1] Dateline MSNBC, “From Husband to Stalker,” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/19292264 (last visited Nov. 9, 2009).

[1] Marie Tessier, Hi-Tech Stalking Devices Extend Abusers’ Reach, http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2905/ (last visited Aug. 7, 2009).