December 2010

25 posts
GPS Tracking By Law Enforcement Without A Warrant – Is it Legal?

Several important court battles over the use of GPS tracking by law enforcement without a warrant have been going on during the last year. The courts have returned different opinions recently.

1) In November 2010, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, in a five to four split, upheld a lower court’s ruling that law enforcement agencies need to obtain a warrant to use the “global positioning system” (GPS) to track a suspect.

The federal appellate court denied a Department of Justice request for reconsideration of a three-judge panel’s ruling that warrantless GPS tracking violated the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights as well as the defendant’s “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

The case involved a D.C. area nightclub owner who was busted for drug possession after police attached a GPS tracking device to his vehicle. Local authorities had monitored Antoine Jones for a month without a warrant before they nabbed him. In a divided decision the court ruled to re-establish Jones’ 4th amendment rights as precedent over what is essentially probable cause, most likely because there didn’t seem to be probable cause for much of the time spent monitoring the suspect.

Read Article
School Bus Tracking System Allows Parents to Track Kids

Starting in January 2011, GPS tracking devices will be installed eight school buses in Columbia Elementary , Madison County, AL. The gps tracking devices will be used as part of a pilot program for a new bus tracking system. The new bus tracking system will enable parents to track the location of the bus their child is riding in real-time.

Bobby Jackson, Administrator of Transportation for Columbia Elementary, said that as soon as students are enrolled in the program, students will use their fingerprints to check in and off school buses. “Parents will know their child is on the bus and where the bus is, but not anyone else,” he said.

Read Article
AT&T’s Green Fleet Management Tips, Strategy and Achievements

Less than 2 years ago, AT&T committed to replacing approximately 15,000 of its nearly 76,000 fleet vehicles with alternative fuel models by 2019. Since then, AT & T has deployed 2,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet vehicles, a major green fleet milestone. The company’s 15,000 alt-fuel fleet vehicle plan will displace 2.5 million barrels of oil, reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons, and create or save 5,500 jobs, according to the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute.

The company expects to spend an estimated $350 million over five years to purchase roughly 8,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet vehicles. CNG vehicles provide a reduction in carbon emissions – approximately 25 percent compared with traditional gasoline vehicles. They are also working with natural gas service providers to build up to 40 new CNG fueling stations to provide the infrastructure needed for the new vehicles. AT&T’s green fleet plan includes an approximately $215 million investment to replace 7,100 fleet passenger cars with alternative-fuel models. The measure will save 49 million gallons of gasoline over 10 years, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Read Article
How to Prevent Theft of Fleet Vehicles

Yesterday CJ Driscolls & Associates released a study of the Latin American GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems Market. The study concluded that today over four million Latin American vehicles are equipped with a subscription-based vehicle tracking solution. By 2014, the Latin American GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems market will expand to nearly nine million units in service, which is more than double the current amount of GPS vehicle tracking devices. Yearly hardware and service revenues are expected to grow to nearly US $3 billion.

The CJ Driscolls Study provides valuable information about the market for GPS fleet management, consumer stolen vehicle recovery and telematics solutions in each Latin American country (as well as Central America and Mexico). The study also provides an overview and data on the addressable market size, market penetration and trends, and projected market growth.

Read Article
Longest Operating GPS System Satellite Reaches 20th Year in Orbit

Global positioning system GPS Block IIA-10 (SVN-23) was launched in November 1990, according to the U.S. Air Force. The global positioning system satellite was the first in the series of GPS IIA satellites to be launched with a design life of 7.5 years. To date, the satellite has operated longer than any other satellite and is predicted to last another 12 to 18 months. The GPS satellite has certainly done its job of providing services to the world.

Read Article
GPS Tracking Technology Used to Catch Car Jacking Suspect

This week a quick thinking car jacking victim used GPS tracking technology and his laptop computer to lead police to the suspect, according to the North Jersey police.

Stalin Guzman, 24, of Paterson, New Jersey, was walking to his car when he saw a man on the street. They made eye contact and the suspect allegedly pulled a silver-plated gun and demanded that Guzman step away from the car. He allegedly made that same demand several times before cocking the gun’s hammer, according to Lt. Ronald Humphrey.

Read Article
Google’s Driverless Vehicle Technology Creates Car That Drives Itself

Have you ever wanted a car that could drive itself? Google’s (GOOG) latest project brings hardware and software together to create a self driving car. Time Magazine Recently Put it on it’s 50 Best Inventions of 2010 List. The vehicle created by Google has already traveled 140,000 miles safely on its own.

Google says the one of a kind vehicle is not meant to replace drivers but to help them. Imagine being able to take your hands off the wheel for a minute to check an email or take a phone call. This would be an amazing feature to have on a vehicle, especially when traveling long distances, or when you are in in unfamiliar areas or have children in the car. An engineer from Google described it as “Super Cruise Control,” a way to drastically improve your driving experience rather than replace driving altogether.

Read Article
1 2
achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement achievement
Take the tour now