Posts Tagged ‘global positioning system’

It has come up in many a court whether or not tracking a suspect with a GPS tracker is legal. Is it a breach of the fourth amendment? Is a tracker a form of “unreasonable searches”? Need it be dependent on a warrant “upon probable cause supported by Oath or affirmation”? Is it in violation of the clause “describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”, because you can’t exactly specify where you will search someone if you are tracking them? All words in quotations come directly from the Constitution, the legal body that almost 350 years after composition our nation still follows.

If the words are taken literally, then it would be almost impossible to use a GPS-enabled tracker to assist in the capturing of a suspected criminal. A tracker in any shape or form would qualify as an unreasonable search by most legal definitions. Any covert tracking generally requires special permission by a legal enforcement authoritative figure. The thing is, issuing a warrant for a GPS tracker would be problematic. There’s almost no way to describe what’s going to be tracked and where, and the whole point of the warrant is that it must be as specific as possible to ensure a legal search.

The dilemma has been brought to court before by suspects that felt that they were violated. They appealed their cases to some of the country’s thirteen federal Court of Appeals. The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a criminal found guilty on proof that was documented by a GPS tracker. The defendant claimed that such surreptitious tracking was an “unreasonable search”. The courts ruled that placing a tracking device on a car does not qualify as a “search or seizure” because they equated the device to a police car physically tailing the vehicle. The judge reasoned, “if police follow a car around, or observe its route by means of cameras mounted on lampposts or by satellite imaging as in Google Earth, there is no search”. From that ruling, issuing a warrant wouldn’t be necessary.

There was a difference of opinion between the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals to that of the D.C. Circuit. Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote a 41 page opinion as to why he and his two fellow judges chose the verdict that favored privacy. “It is one thing for a passerby to observe or even to follow someone during a single journey as he goes to the market or returns home from work,” Ginsburg wrote. “It is another thing entirely for that stranger to pick up the scent again the next day and the day after that, week in and week out, dogging his prey until he has identified all the places, people, amusements, and chores that make up that person‘s hitherto private routine.” He felt that GPS tracking was equivalent to the kind of police tracking that requires a warrant.

There’s only one court above the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court. Being as that there is no official verdict yet, it is entirely up to the national court to announce a verdict to apply in all 50 states. It will be interesting to learn the conclusion when the next historic decision is announced.

Due to poachers and hunters who use giraffe’s skin to produce cloth, the giraffe population in Western Africa has unfortunately become extremely scarce. They are slowly making their way up the endangered species list, and scientists have had to act quickly.

In order to gather more information about these long-necked, majestic creatures of Africa, eight giraffes were fitted with GPS tracking collars. These GPS collars were specially designed to fit around the giraffe’s long neck, and are also camouflaged to match the color of the giraffe’s skin so that the giraffe doesn’t become easy prey.

Using the information gathered from the GPS devices, scientists can better understand where the giraffes are most commonly gathering, which helps them figure out in which areas giraffes need the most protection from hunters. The devices also serve as a precautionary measure: many giraffe hunters may be a bit less willing to fire a gun at any giraffe wearing a GPS collar because hunting giraffes is illegal in West Africa.

Getting the GPS collars onto the giraffes is probably the most difficult part of this entire process. Scientists must first fire a tranquilizer dart at the giraffe, and then an anesthesiologist must keep the giraffe unconscious until the GPS tracking collar can be been safely placed around its long neck. It takes a team of seven men to hold down this enormous animal so that it doesn’t make any sudden movements while it is incapacitated.

With this new technology, scientists also hope to find the mating grounds of the giraffes in Western Africa. With this information, scientists will hopefully be able to relocate more giraffes to these mating grounds, thus expanding the giraffe population in Western Africa, and consequently having them lowered them on the endangered species list.

There is also another serious threat that faces the giraffe population in Africa. With industrialization just starting to grow in Western Africa, more and more trees are being cut down, and even more watering holes are being taken over for human resources. The giraffes’ natural habitat is shrinking, which is causing many giraffes to die from lack of food and water. While environmentalist efforts are still trying to limit this harming of the ecosystem, scientists are using the information they gather from the satellite tracking collars to discover better locations for the giraffe population to inhabit.

With the help of this advanced new GPS based technology, the giraffe population will hopefully live on, and these gorgeous, majestic mammals of the dusty planes of Africa can continue to thrive in peace.

Hawksbill turtles are among the most critically endangered species in the world. They used to populate the area around the Gulf Coast, but the BP oil spoil only aggravated their situation. The oil ridden waters have killed thousands of turtles alone, while thousand more have died from starvation and predators. Very few turtles make it to unaffected waters, leaving them stranded in this extremely dangerous area.

But all is not lost. A three year tracking program has been approved that will track over 400 turtles from the Gulf, in the hopes of pinpointing where these turtles migrate. The plan is then to transfer the rest of the turtles to those safe locations. Research will also be done to analyze various waters and relative turtle behavior, in the hopes of discovering which marine area suits them best. Five different countries are taking part in this massive scale animal rescue act, which is the first of its kind in the Gulf region.

The oil spill isn’t the only thing threatening the lives of these turtles. Many fishermen cast nets to catch these turtles, ether for their meat or expensive shells. Fishing for turtles is highly illegal because they are an endangered species. With this new GPS tracking technology, fishermen may be a bit more hesitant to catch a turtle knowing there may be a GPS tracker on its back.

Another barrier that these turtles face is finding new places to lay eggs. When turtles reach the age of full sexual maturity, usually around age thirty, they return to the beaches where they were born and lay their eggs. With the shores of the Gulf no longer an option, turtles will need to find alternative coasts for their eggs.

Feeding is also a large obstacle that these turtles must overcome. Hawksbill turtles are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and vegetables in their diets. The problem is, after the oil spill, most of the species that the turtles eat have migrated from that area, and the plant life has started to die. Scientists will use these GPS tracking systems to find better feeding grounds, cleaner waters, and a place where these turtles can call home.

With the help of GPS tracking technology, we can help keep Hawksbill turtles off the endangered species list for good.

The biggest nightmare that a new mother can have is losing sight of her baby. It may only be for a few seconds, but in that time her baby could be kidnapped. Normally, if a baby is missing at a hospital, that hospital will go on lockdown. This procedure involves sealing off all exits, sounding the alarms, and notifying the local authorities of the situation. The problem is that it could take hours until the infant is finally found. During this time, the baby could be injured, or worse. Obviously this old security system needs to be changed.

Thankfully, the Stanley Corporation is giving people peace of mind when it comes to their new-born babies. They have invented a new system called HUGS, which tracks each and every neo-natal baby with a highly accurate GPS tracking device.

Each GPS device is attached to the baby’s ankle and has multiple functions. If the device gets too close to one of the exits, a loud alarm goes off, which will warn the hospital staff that someone is attempting to kidnap one of the babies. If the anklet is cut or deactivated, that same alarm will sound, making it impossible for the perpetrator to slip away unnoticed.

If somehow the culprit gets away, their position can be tracked in real-time using the advanced GPS tracking technology installed in the anklet. The GPS transmitter sends out a homing beacon every 10 seconds which tracks the baby’s position. Although the device is small, it is still extremely accurate: it has precision within inches of the device’s actual location.

The best part of these systems is that they are fully reusable. Once a baby has left the hospital, the ankle bracelet can be easily removed and placed on to the next baby.

More and more hospitals around the world are starting to adopt this new system of neo-natal security, and for good reason. When it comes to the safety of our infants, I know all mothers will agree that there is no such thing as being too safe with you newborn baby.

On June 15th, a seven year-old girl was abducted in the middle of a Chuck E. Cheese’s in California. The girl was thankfully wearing a GPS device disguised as a wristwatch, so when the mother realized she wasn’t there and notified the police, they were able to track her down using satellite tracking technology.

As a result, the police later arrested the kidnapper, who had drugged the little girl, put her into his car, and had driven over 84 miles away from the Chuck E. Cheese’s. He is now serving a 15 year jail sentence.

It’s scary to think what could’ve happened had this little girl not been wearing her GPS wristwatch. It may have taken weeks, if not months, before the police would have been able find her, and who know what could have happened to her during that time period.

Many parents are unfortunately unaware of the serious dangers that their children face every day. Furthermore, even for the parents who are aware, many of them think that buying a GPS is unnecessary and that it’s way too expensive. All parents who truly love their children, however, will agree that you cannot put a price on your child’s safety.

Nowadays, with all the criminals on the streets, having a GPS system has become less of a luxury and more of a necessity; with the growing popularity of the internet, it has become easier than ever for kidnappers to lure out unwitting children and take advantage of them.

As the guardians of our younger generation, it is our job to protect our young ones to the best of our ability. And with all of the new technology at our disposal today, there’s really no excuse to not buy a GPS system to protect both yourself and the ones that you love the most.

This Sunday morning at 5:30 AM, the Chinese government launched a rocket into space that was carrying a navigation satellite system. This satellite is the fifth of over 30 Beidou orbiters that Beijing hopes will soon rival America’s Global Positioning System (GPS).

For many years, the U.S. Air Force has owned and operated the system that the rest of the world uses for navigation, which has given The United States a huge military advantage. Our Global Positioning System enables our bombs to be guided with unbelievable precision, which makes other countries nervous. With America in control of all GPS satellites, what if the Pentagon decided to mess with the GPS signal in the midst of a war?

The Chinese have now invented a new rival to the GPS system called Beidou, which in Chinese means “compass”. It will allow China to be self-reliant when it comes to global tracking technology.

This Sunday’s satellite launch makes the 5th orbiter out of a total of 30 in the Beidou constellation. Another eight to ten are scheduled to be launched into orbit by 2012, and by 2020, Beidou is supposed to become fully operational. This means China will soon be able to use its own satellite-guided weapons, ones that hit within feet of their target, and stay on track no matter what the weather is like.

Beidou is only one of 3 potential competitors of GPS currently under construction. The European Union’s Galileo project was supposed to have been up and running by the year 2008, but has only been able to launch a few of testing satellites.

Russia had its satellite system consisting of 24 different satellites, which they call GLONASS. It was supposed to up and running by 1995, but 6 years later, only 6 of the satellites were still working, and system was disabled. Russia has launched an effort to rebuild GLONASS that is just about finished. According to the Russian government, twenty-one of their satellites are operational.

With the satellite navigation “arms race” at an all time high, the other countries might give America’s GPS system a run for its money.

Texting while driving has become a serious problem with drivers in the United States, especially among newer teenaged drivers. Unfortunately, over 3,000 young drivers died every year from texting while driving, with another 330,000 more that get injured or get into a car accident every year.

Companies have released public safety announcements about the dangers of texting while driving in the hope of using scare tactic to try to reduce the number of people who text while they drive, but sadly the number of accidents has not seen a reduction.

Finally, developers have created a new type of GPS based technology that will eliminate texting while driving for good. It’s called proTextor, and its software that can be downloaded on to any cell phone. This program uses GPS tracking technology to detect when the mobile device is moving at a speed of over 10 mph, and then locks the phone from being used. This means that while driving in a moving vehicle, the cell phone is not capable of sending or receiving texts or phone calls.

Once the car is no longer in motion, the user can receive all of his or her text messages and missed calls, as well as send texts to others. The GPS tracking software inside the phone algebraically determines how far you’ve traveled within that instance of time, and using that, can determine whether or not you are in a moving vehicle.

The lock on the phone can be deactivated by entering in a special code in the case of a serious emergency, or if the user is not the one driving. The software simply acts as a reminder to the driver that he or she must act responsibly behind the wheel and not put their own life, or the lives of others, at risk.

Whales are one of the most majestic animals of the sea, which is why it’s so heartbreaking to see one in pain. That is what happened to a group of fishermen just off the coast of Chesapeake Bay, when they suddenly saw a humpback whale tangled in a fishing net.

Right away, the fishermen called the aquatic rescue team. Once they arrive, the rescue team attempted to track the whale by using a device called the GPS buoy. The way this device works is that they keep the whale in place by securing a buoy to the net, which will cause the whale to tire itself out so that the rescue team can take it back to a safer location and gently remove the tangled net without hurting the whale. A GPS system is secured onto the whale so that in case that it escapes, the team can find it within minutes.

Luckily for the rescue team, they didn’t forget to secure the GPS device, because the massive power of the humpback whale allowed it to escape into the sea, still tangled up and in pain from the rugged old fishing net wrapped around its head. 

The aquatic rescue team sent out warnings to all sailors and fishermen near Chesapeake Bay to keep an eye out for the humpback whale, and to call them as soon as the whale is seen. They also warned all non professionals not to try to remove the net on their own. Removing a fishing net from a whale is a very delicate process, and could take as long as 3 days to accomplish.

Finally, the aquatic rescue team was able to track the humpback whale’s position, secure it, bring it back to a safer location, and removed the net without and damage done to the whale.

Without this GPS technology, it would have been near impossible to have tracked down that whale, and could have take weeks, or even months to find. With that net wrapped around its head, that whale would not have been able to see or eat anything, which means it would have been dead within a few days had the aquatic rescue team not found it. Thanks to GPS tracking technology, they team was able to find the whale in no more than a few hours.

Dozens of whales get could in abandoned fishing nets every year, and thanks to GPS technology, we can save as many of these majestic sea creatures as possible.

Over the past few years, the use of GPS technology has been very effective in the world of law enforcement, but only recently has it been applied to fire fighting as well. Slowly but surely, more and more fire departments are adopting these GPS systems as part of their fire fighting gear on account of many benefits, as will be discussed below.

To begin with, there are multiple reasons as to why navigation GPS units are being built into fire trucks. First, it allows them to arrive at the scene of a fire in the shortest possible time, which, needless to say, it’s crucial. Second, these devices are able to provide the locations of all fire hydrants, water lines, gas lines, and electrical service lines anywhere near the fire, allowing the fire fighters to assess the situation ahead of time which helps them better prepare for how they will respond.

These new GPS devices can also provide fire fighters with satellite imagery of large fires – such as forest fires or oil fires – from which they can see and determine which areas most immediately need to be put out, and can plan the most efficient way of putting out the fire accordingly.

In addition, in the event that outside firefighters from another area are called in for extra support, these GPS devices can not only aid them in navigating through unfamiliar territory, but also help different firefighters better communicate and relay positions to one another via satellite uplink. During a dangerous blaze, all fire departments can be monitored simultaneously, so knowing where all your units are at the same time becomes very easy, which is important and essential knowledge.

There are also plans to attach personal GPS trackers to each individual fireman to ensure that no one is ever left behind. If a fireman, thus, ever finds himself in trouble from a dangerous fire, within seconds he can activate a distress beacon, informing his fellow fight fighters that something has gone wrong and that he’s in need of help.

All of this new GPS technology will enable our fire fighters to act more efficiently in the fight against fires, which in turn will help them save even more innocent lives.

Jordan Romero, a young 13 year old boy, has set the record for being the youngest person in history to climb Mount Everest. Jordan has been climbing the highest peeks in the world since he was a little boy. At the age of 9, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and his goal for the future is to climb the 7 highest mountains on earth.

With the help of a GPS tracking device attached to Jordan at all times, his family members and fans around the world can watch his ascent and descent from any mountain he climbs. This GPS device can also send out a safety beacon in case something goes horribly wrong. If something happens to Jordan, emergency helicopters can be at the ready and know his exact position at all times.

As soon at Jordan reached the top of Mount Everest, the first thing he did was call his mother and tell her he was okay. Like any mother would, Jordan’s mother’s first response was to tell him to get his butt back home in one piece.

Jordan comes from a big family of adventure seekers. His father and his father’s girlfriend are both adventure racers, and have been training Jordan for his many climbs for his entire life, especially for his climb of Mount Everest.

In Nepal, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to climb Mount Everest, so Jordan was forced to climb the mountain from the Chinese side, where there is no age restriction whatsoever.

Jordan’s main goal is to pose as a role model for teenagers everywhere to get out of the house and get active. He hopes that the future generations will learn from him and set big goals for themselves, then go out and achieve those goals through hard work and perseverance.