In a surprise move Thursday, the federal government notified an appeals court that it reserves the right to secretly place GPS tracking devices on private vehicles without first obtaining a warrant. Many are wondering what the Justice Department is thinking since the highly anticipated January Supreme Court ruling on this issue. In January, the Supreme Court justices ruled unanimously in the case United States v. Jones that the law enforcement practice of placing a GPS tracking device on a vehicle without first obtaining a warrant was unconstitutional and a violation of the Fourth Amendment. In the Fourth Amendment it protects the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
According to a Justice Department spokesperson, “a warrant is not required for a GPS search, as the Supreme Court did not resolve that issue.” However, the Department expressed restraint in using these practices. The government made this argument to the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, alleging that the Supreme Court intentionally left its vague language as a loophole in the law.
The media has been covering the warrantless GPS tracking argument, as well as other privacy-related issues, for quite some time. If the reader of this article believes that the government’s argument is based solely on physical GPS tracking devices used by law enforcement agencies, he would be wrong as the meaning goes much deeper.
Monitoring of the average citizen
Whether you know it or not, the ability to track your whereabouts is already available. Even without GPS tracking technology, your cell phone can be tracked by cellular triangulation where cell towers can roughly pinpoint your location. However, most modern electronic devices, especially smartphones, are equipped with a GPS receiver due to inexpensive modules and popular apps that help Americans locate services, navigate, etc. Cellular triangulation is inaccurate and unreliable, while GPS pinpoints your location to within a few feet.
Manufacturers of GPS tracking devices design portable and wired devices as a tool that improves business productivity, provides peace of mind for parents of teen drivers and the location of elderly parents, as well as tools for police investigation. The question for the US government’s position should not be whether or not they are protecting the use of devices by law enforcement for investigative purposes. The real question is whether they are setting the stage to separate the existing Supreme Court ruling as specific to police investigations. Therefore, monitoring mobile devices is not part of the existing law. The government will always have the ability to declare that it is monitoring the device, not the individual. This is a slippery slope that will most likely lead to the Supreme Court in the future.
