(FBI)Tracking Device Teardown

iFixit ^ | 5/9/2011 | iFixit staff

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If the FBI doesn't need a warrant to put a GPS tracker on your vehicle, you don't need a warrant to put a GPS tracker on one of theirs, right?

[meatloaf]

We recently went through training to use the equipment used to track people with issues like Alzheimer's went they went missing. One of the transmitters ended up going underground when the man died. the funeral home didn't remove the bracelet.

So you might want to go to a viewing with your tracking device.

[KarlInOhio]

1. Put it in a box.
2. Go to the federal building.
3. Leave it unattended in the lobby.
4. Enjoy as the bomb squad x-rays the tubular electronic device and decides it needs to be detonated.

If anyone links it back to you just claim that you were returning it but got distracted and put it down.

[doorgunner69]

I’d look for a car with an Obama bumper sticker. Still plenty of those morons around that are proud of what they have inflicted on the rest of u................

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

What’s worse is that such surreptitious GPS car trackers are now available commercially. And though usually used by the jealous, there is no way for the car owner to know if they are private or police. If they are private, you can do with them as you please. But if they are police property, it is illegal to tamper with them.

As far as getting rid of them, the best bet would probably be that they would first be noticed by your mechanic. He could likely come up with some plausible way of disabling it “by accident”, blamed on an inexperienced worker, for which you would pay him in cash.

But the bottom line is that when you realize you are under surveillance, you can plan accordingly. Far more insidious, for example, is that the car companies are now including “black boxes” in all vehicles, that will rat you out. This will probably get worse, and soon, since the government wants to tax cars based on mileage, instead of fuel consumed.