Spying With Gps

[+BigFurryMonster]

I wonder if there's great stories out there of people spying on each other by slipping a GPS in someone's pocket, and checking where he/she has been.

 

The topic came up when my girlfriend wanted to borrow my GPS and I said (jokingly!): there's a good way of keeping track of your whereabouts!!

 

Anyone has ever done such a thing?

Edited April 12, 2005 by BigFurryMonster

[+sTeamTraen]

I wish my GPSr would work in my pocket. With the tree cover where I typically go caching, the thickness of my jacket seems to be enough to push me into "Lost Satellite Reception". Now I have a a bigger one (60cs vs Geko), maybe the fact that the antenna sticks out will help me.

 

I've seen GPS systems marketed as "find your kids" devices. They transmit the coords to your phone or a base unit or whatever. I can't believe these work in the real world, especially if your kid gets lost in the mall (duh) or deep cover woods. If they get lost in the middle of a football field, fine.

 

That said, the breadcrumb trail of an in-car sat-nav system could be interesting. I look forward to it figuring in a future episode of CSI.

[+Tzoid]

Markwell

[Black Mage]

My dad is on the administrative staff (for lack of a better term) for an off-road racing organization, Bonneville Off-Road Racing Enerprises. Last week he was joking that they should get soe gps units and secretly place then in a number of cars and trucks they though might try to cut across the race course.

[adampierson]

I seem to recall somewhere last December someone here using their GPS to track where his wife had gone - he suspected his wife was cheating on him.

[+IVxIV]

It'd be cool to hide on on the rear parcel shelf of a car before some kid takes it out for a drive. When they come back you can chew them out after seeing what there maximums speeds were

[adampierson]

Here it is...

 

spying on your spouse

[+Jamie Z]

I seem to recall somewhere last December someone here using their GPS to track where his wife had gone - he suspected his wife was cheating on him.

You mean the link posted two messages before yours? You were too late.

 

Jamie

[+JohnnyVegas]

I guess someone could use a GPS to down load the track log to lookup up what places they had visited while on a party bindge,

[+StarBrand]

Accidently left my running GPS in a teen's car that had gone caching with us once. I downloaded the cache track and found about 70 round trips up and down the 1.25 miles of Main Street before the battery gave out. Kids........

[+Jennifer&Dean]

I've used them to track down folks using their work vehicle for personal stuff. And seen them used to track those vehicles during the day.

-J

[+Renegade Knight]

I've pondered it, but it's 300 bucks or more and you have to place it where you can get a signal. If you have access this is easy. If you don't, it's not. We don't have access and without police help I'm not sure what we would accomplish.

[+TetrAmigos]

Bluetooth GPSr's. The receiver is so small, you can sneak it away practically anywhere. Stick a laptop or a PDA out of sight, but nearby enough to pickup the signal, and you are in business.

[+sTeamTraen]

<deleted>

Edited April 12, 2005 by sTeamTraen

[skillett]

I use a program called waypoint which will download tracks and waypoints from a gps and display them on a street atlas 5 map. It shows exactly where I have been. If I ever have this type of problem it might come in handy

here is a link to the software. it's free too.

http://www.tapr.org/~kh2z/Waypoint/

Skillett

Edited April 12, 2005 by skillett

[adampierson]

I seem to recall somewhere last December someone here using their GPS to track where his wife had gone - he suspected his wife was cheating on him.

You mean the link posted two messages before yours? You were too late.

 

Jamie

YUP!

[Radman Forever]

I guess someone could use a GPS to down load the track log to lookup up what places they had visited while on a party bindge,

GREAT IDEA! I know what I'm doing next weekend when I go to Canada for my friend's 19th b-day bash! Thanks for the awesome idea!

[bogleman]

Slightly off topic but same route. Several rental car companies install GPS tracking in their vehicles. They can log into a web site and track the vehicles real time. This is mainly used for inventory control, the units automatically call in and they can determine where their cars are at. It also works very well when some one steals the car makes it real easy to track down.

Ian

[+BigFurryMonster]

Then they need a GPRS connection too, don't they?

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

The larger rental car agencies track their vehicles whereabouts for a number of reasons, not least being that they invoke a financial penalty if the vehicle is taken out of an approved geographical area; rent a car with unlimited mileage as long as it stays in Alabama, make an excursion to Miami and they got ya!.

 

Some rental companies track maximum speeds and fine you if they are exceeded during your rental.

 

The insurance industry wants badly, and may get, to have GPS-enabled recorders, like black boxes on airplanes, in every vehicle (YOUR CAR!) that show exactly what the vehicle was doing for the 30-minute period preceeding an accident!

 

I worked on the development project of this technology, the On-Board Computer System at Ryder Dedicated Logistics. A GPS-enabled computer was installed in every Ryder truck; each package and item of cargo was tracked as it was handled, much like UPS or Fedex does today, as was every vehicle down to location, engine RPM, transmission gear selected, speed and frequency of rapid speed change (frequent hard acceleration and / or braking indicates a tailgating or aggressive driver), vehicle maintenance history and each driver's logbook.

 

Bellsouth uses this technology today, as do many first-responders (police, EMT, Utility companies, etc.) to track not only the vehicle but the driver (with a Bluetooth belt-attached module) when out of the vehicle. A Bellsouth service technician is one of the most closely tracked individuals on earth!

 

Casio and Garmin make wristwatch and armband-size GPS with rudimentary tracking functions (breadcrumbs), but until the next gen of GPSr none work well indoors (I've had both - they didn't work so hot outdoors either!).

 

Big Brother IS Watching!

 

You too can watch with This kit or This phone

Edited April 14, 2005 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+VegasCacheHounds]

I've heard that some of the insurance companies are working on a system that you could "voluntarily" install on your car so that they could track when, where and how you drive so they can give you better discounts. Of course, I'd never do it because they would be sure to drop me like a hot potato!

[bogleman]

From the - TheAlabamaRambler - Big Brother IS Watching!

It’s amazing what is going on out there that we do not know (or care to know).

Technology is a wonderful thing. Don't forget about the newer cell phones - 911 can track your call if your phone is properly equipped. GPS is everywhere.

Ian

[nobby.nobbs]

cell phones.....this'll scare you.

 

if the security services get close enough, they can lock onto to your phone and as long as it's turned on it acts as an open mike. they can listen in to you chatting away as long as they stay within a certain distance. this is not the normal scanner stuff which only works when you are actually making a call.

 

scarey stuff.

[+jimmyreno]

cell phones.....this'll scare you.

 

if the security services get close enough, they can lock onto to your phone and as long as it's turned on it acts as an open mike. they can listen in to you chatting away as long as they stay within a certain distance. this is not the normal scanner stuff which only works when you are actually making a call.

 

scarey stuff.

They've been doing that with the phones in peoples houses for decades.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Let's don't get too paranoid here!

 

cell phones.....this'll scare you.

 

if the security services get close enough, they can lock onto to your phone and as long as it's turned on it acts as an open mike. they can listen in to you chatting away as long as they stay within a certain distance. this is not the normal scanner stuff which only works when you are actually making a call.

 

scarey stuff. 

 

Sorry, physically unpossible - the cell phone mic is an electet - an electronic device that dosn't work without electricity, which is of course not available when the phone in anything but operating mode. Even then it converts acoustical to digital signal and the mic iself could not be trapped. Any final radio output of the phone, however, can be.

 

"Normal" home phones are acoustical and can be scanned in certain situations.

 

Besides, what "Security Services"?

[+Team Benhamtroll]

I've heard stories of car rental places using the navigation systems in cars to track their usage, and even levy additional fees for driving the cars too fast. Don't know if this is 100% true or not, but it's one reason why I never rent a car with a nav system (the fact that they're more expensive is another).

 

I've got my own GPS, though, so why bother?

[+Oo-v-oO]

Amateur radio operators can do this with APRS. The position packets can even be tracked on the web in real-time.

Edited April 17, 2005 by Oo-v-oO

[+Team Cotati]

I've heard stories of car rental places using the navigation systems in cars to track their usage, and even levy additional fees for driving the cars too fast. Don't know if this is 100% true or not, but it's one reason why I never rent a car with a nav system (the fact that they're more expensive is another).

 

I've got my own GPS, though, so why bother?

And of course if Hertz or Enterprise wanted to install tracking technology in their property they would first get your permission and put a sticker on the dash telling you all about it.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Yup, anytime I am out caching I take a radio.

 

Both my hand-held and mobile are APRS-enabled, so anyone that cares to can find my location, call sign W4AGA, online in real-time at FindU, an APRS tracking site.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I've heard stories of car rental places using the navigation systems in cars to track their usage, and even levy additional fees for driving the cars too fast. Don't know if this is 100% true or not, but it's one reason why I never rent a car with a nav system (the fact that they're more expensive is another).

 

I've got my own GPS, though, so why bother?

 

This isn't a nav system in the conventional sense - there is no display, for example - it's a tracking system and you'll never know if it's there or not!

Edited April 17, 2005 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+Marcie/Eric]

http://travel2.nytimes.com/mem/travel/arti...752C0A9629C8B63

 

Read this.

[+Skyman]

I am more concerned about things like this.

 

Mileage Tax via GPS

[+Team Cotati]

I wonder if there's great stories out there of people spying on each other by slipping a GPS in someone's pocket, and checking where he/she has been.

 

The topic came up when my girlfriend wanted to borrow my GPS and I said (jokingly!): there's a good way of keeping track of your whereabouts!!

 

Anyone has ever done such a thing?

No, I haven't ever done that. However I have a question for you. If you could install a tracking device on an automobile for oh let's say $5.00 and you placed a AAA type sticker on the auto alerting those who might approach your car with less than honorable intentions....what effect, if any do you think that that might have on the auto theft rate in this country?

[+Marcie/Eric]

I am more concerned about things like this.

 

Mileage Tax via GPS

There was rumor of something like that in California too. What a load of crap.