Georgia Bill Would Ban Hidden GPS Tracking Devices
Posted: 5:01 pm EST January 28, 2009Updated: 8:17 am EST January 29, 2009
ATLANTA -- Inside a completely ordinary SUV parked anywhere in Metro Atlanta, private investigator T.J. Ward and his team can track anyone at any time, without them knowing.Instead of the old cat and mouse game, running red lights and swerving through traffic, he can just stick a little box with a 40-pound magnet to the bottom of a car in seconds. As a person drives, a computer program tracks them via satellite, and prints a list of their whereabouts -- even how fast they were going.Ward's team has been hired by parents after a bitter child custody case, or a spouse. One man, who was married for 18 years, told us, "We used it for several weeks, just tracking where my wife's vehicle was, and just to confirm some suspicions I had."His suspicions were right, and he's now divorced. He credits the GPS surveillance with saving him millions of dollars in alimony."I just needed some evidence, hard evidence in case I needed it in court," he said.Ward said, "These are the tools of our trade, just like it is with law enforcement."That might not be the case for long. A proposed bill is in the Georgia Legislature to outlaw the devices. It gives exception to law enforcement officers, but private investigators are not included."When we get into this fear now where anybody can track anybody, what may start as something that's innocent, may devolve into something that's more sinister," said Ward.Rep. Kevin Levitas wrote the legislation to protect Georgians, and offers exceptions for parents tracking children, cops tracking criminals, and employers watching their vehicles, but not private investigators."I think you or I need to be able to go to the shopping center, get a carton of eggs, and not have to check under our car to see if someone placed a tracking device," said Levitas. "I think the legislation's good so any John Doe person can't walk into a store, buy a GPS and throw it on someone's car, just because they want to know where someone is."Ward argues he sometimes works with law enforcement, and often his findings are used in court. Private investigators receive special training and are state licensed. Now, they'll spend thousands of dollars on lobbyists to try to get it written into the law.
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