I worked for a company that made us take a company truck home so that we could go directly from our homes to our first appointment. This way, the owner did not have to open the place earlier to let us get our vehicles. Every vehicle had a GPS tracking device on it and employees were fired if they used the vehicle for anything but work.
My former employer is adding ,000 to my line one pay as a vehicle fringe benefit. We also had /month deducted from our pay for the use of the vehicle as well as /month for the use of a mandatory company cell phone, which we were also prohibited from using for personal reasons (curious that he did not add that as a fringe benefit).
Can I dispute the ,000 added to my gross pay with the IRS?
Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.
That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants — with no need for a search warrant.
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It is a dangerous decision — one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.
This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle’s underside.
After Pineda-Moreno challenged the DEA’s actions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in January that it was all perfectly legal. More disturbingly, a larger group of judges on the circuit, who were subsequently asked to reconsider the ruling, decided this month to let it stand. (Pineda-Moreno has pleaded guilty conditionally to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and manufacturing marijuana while appealing the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained with the help of GPS.)
In these highly partisan times, GPS monitoring is a subject that has both conservatives and liberals worried. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s pro-privacy ruling was unanimous — decided by judges appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
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Plenty of liberals have objected to this kind of spying, but it is the conservative Chief Judge Kozinski who has done so most passionately. "1984 may have come a bit later than predicted, but it’s here at last," he lamented in his dissent. And invoking Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia where privacy is essentially nonexistent, he warned: "Some day, soon, we may wake up and find we’re living in Oceania."
Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway – and no reasonable expectation that the government isn’t tracking your movements.
That is the bizarre – and scary – rule that now applies in California and eight other Western states. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers this vast jurisdiction, recently decided the government can monitor you in this way virtually anytime it wants – with no need for a search warrant.
It is a dangerous decision – one that, as the dissenting judges warned, could turn America into the sort of totalitarian state imagined by George Orwell. It is particularly offensive because the judges added insult to injury with some shocking class bias: the little personal privacy that still exists, the court suggested, should belong mainly to the rich.
This case began in 2007, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents decided to monitor Juan Pineda-Moreno, an Oregon resident who they suspected was growing marijuana. They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle’s underside.
After Pineda-Moreno challenged the DEA’s actions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in January that it was all perfectly legal. More disturbingly, a larger group of judges on the circuit, who were subsequently asked to reconsider the ruling, decided this month to let it stand.
www.BrickHouseSecurity.com – San Francisco news channel KRON 4 TV reviews The Amber Alert GPS Tracker. This technology lets children alert their parents or guardians the moment there’s a problem, with the press of a button. Parents can also check up on kids on any Internet enabled cell phone or computer. An added feature for parents is the Safety Zone, which sends an immediate alert if your child goes out a specified range that the parent customizes. Easy to use for both children and adults, the Amber Alert GPS Tracker adds unparalleled functionality. For more information about this product, click here: www.BrickHouseSecurity.com BrickHouse Security
www.BrickHouseSecurity.com – Sacramento TV highlights Amber Alert GPS for kids. This revolutionary new device is the first device designed specifically for parents and children. Sacramento TV also explains the difference between a Child Locator and a GPS locator showing that a child locator is more for locating a child within a general area whereas a GPS tracker is preferred for finding a child anywhere in the world. The Amber Alert GPS Tracker is designed for fast child location and easy panic notification. For more information about this product, click here: www.BrickHouseSecurity.com BrickHouse Security
I am looking at buying a GPS tracking device. Here is one that I found that sounds kind of good: http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Realtime-GPS-GSM-GPRS-Personal-Tracker-Tracking_W0QQitemZ170404863554QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGPS_Devices?hash=item27acebde42
I don’t understand the way this works. It says to insert a SIM card into the unit. Does that mean that you have to have a phone number assigned to it? The other method, which would be better for me, instead of having to call it everytime, is through GPRS. I don’t know what that is, how it works, how to set it up, or if it costs something.
Ideally, I would like something that you can put in a vehicle, that transmits to a computer constantly, showing how long a vehicle is stopped where ever it is stopped at as well. One that takes a SD card that I could swap out would be awesome, too!! Any ideas on an inexpensive model that would work this way? It needs to have a very long battery life, too.
www.BrickHouseSecurity.com – The Amber Alert GPS Tracker, lets parents find out exactly where their child is at any time. The small GPS tracker is tiny and portable – perfect for a child’s pocket or backpack. The moment your child senses danger, he or she can press the panic button and send an immediate alert to a parent via text message or e-mail. Parents can also choose to create a safety zone geofence. For more information about this product, click here: www.BrickHouseSecurity.com BrickHouse Security
Ive been told that I will have a gps tracking device installed on my vehicle and i was wondering if there is anyway to deactivate it or hack or w/e term to use, for my own personal privacy?
I won’t go into the soap opera but I have a gps tracking device on my car and I want to turn it over to the police. This is my car and I am an adult. I really would appreciate some advice.
I’ve been told the tracker emits a signal that can be detected with a divice. Another was to walk around my car with a AM/FM radio with dial all the way to the top so there is static and when static changes rythmically, bingo! Finally, I was told that it is the size of a pack of gum and can only be found by sight.
Do any of these suggestions hold water? Your suggestion for finding? Are there preferred places these things are located?
I do a lot of field work, not going to specify the profession. There is a lack of supervision because I am always out on my own. I get my job done, bottom line. Does it seem strange that an employer might require a gps tracking device? I think they are passing it off as a safety issue, but what about weekends and time off? I don’t want my personal business to be available to my employer. Any thoughts?
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