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Miniature GPS receivers are now available for about $1,000 and can be affixed to the undercarriage of vehicles in minutes.

They can also be found and removed in seconds. Know your vehicle.

Until they make one that is really hard to find, or doesn't look like one.

And placed on trains, trucks, etc.

CrawDaddyCA wrote:

Huge potential for abuse. Scary.

And The_Victor posted to CrawDaddyCA:

Miniature GPS receivers are now available for about $1,000 and can be affixed to the undercarriage of vehicles in minutes.
They can also be found and removed in seconds. Know your vehicle.

I've been thinking about devices like radar detectors for several years and how, in certain states (like CT), they are illegal. Combining the ideas above I see a huge potential for some entrepreneur to reap BIG profits. This idea assumes that the devices in this article are transmitting the vehicle location (ala James Bond in Goldfinger) and not simply recorders left for later retrieval.

How about a generalized device to detect, sort out and classify EM radiation? It should be a fairly straightforward EE design task, combining the basic detection capabilities of devices like radar detectors with dedicated computer capabilities for isolating and identifying specific emissions. Such a device should be able to identify transmitters, such as those used to bug a car. It would also be able to detect radars, as they do now, but because they are general radiation detectors it may not fall under the laws such as Connecticut's ban on specialized "radar detectors."

Cobra Anti-Radiation Detector - $199.95 at your local Radio Shack!

It could also be used to identify and localize sources of radio interference for things like radios or TVs, check for dangerous microwave oven leaks, or even help isolate faulty wiring in an engine. An all purpose tool. Who could think of banning such a device?

If the GPS receivers in this story are simply placed on the vehicle, record the routes and stops, then later retrieved, then such a detector wouldn't spot them. However, keeping your vehicle in a locked garage would require a warrant or a B and E to either place or retrieve such a recording device, and that should be enough to cover the cautious/paranoid individual.

Paranoia Quotes I Live By:

Just because I'm paranoid, that doesn't mean they aren't really out to get me!
Even paranoids have real enemies (Henry Kissinger on Richard Nixon)
The question isn't "are you paranoid?" The question is "are you paranoid enough?" (Tom Sizemore in Strange Days)