GPS Laws Overview
When it comes to laws that govern GPS, the list is very vague and broad at the moment. There are yet to be any concrete laws when it comes to how GPS cannot be used when it comes to civilians and what uses of GPS are considered breaking the law; except for a law stating that GPS jamming devices are illegal. However there have been policies by multiple presidents that encourage the use of GPS systems. “It is the official policy of the U.S. government to provide open, free access to the information necessary to develop and build equipment to use the civil services of GPS and its augmentations”. (gps.gov) Most laws regarding GPS have been to ensure that the government provided free access to GPS for civilians to use, or for others to develop applications or devices that use GPS; for example GPS in cars, or on planes or phones.
GPS Laws Pertaining to Government
Title 51 of the U.S. Code Section 50112 encourages worldwide use of GPS. It also details that there should be cooperation between The U.S. and other foreign governments so that there would be an international standard that would prevent any barriers that are associated with GPS applications. Also this law states that there should be “adequate resources” provided to assistant secretary of commerce to ensure that there are no international disruptions or interference.
Title 10 of US Code Section 2281 gives the Secretary of Defense statutory authority to sustain and operate GPS for military and civil purposes. This statute gives a directive to the Secretary of Defense to ensure that there are proper measures taken to prevent hostile use of GPS in certain areas without interrupting peaceful and civil use of GPS elsewhere.
Section 152 of the National Defense Authorization Act, requires that all military aircraft ships, armored vehicles and indirect fire weapon systems obtained after September 2007 come equipped with GPS.
GPS Jamming
Under law, any devices that hinder the use of GPS are considered illegal. According to The Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, the use of jamming devices can place yourself or others in danger. An example giving is that jammers can prevent emergency calls such as 9-1-1 from getting through and also interfere with law enforcement communications such as police radar, radio communications, cellphones, and Wi-Fi. (transition.fcc.gov) Failure to cooperate with said law can result in tens of thousands of dollars in fines, the seizure of the illegal device and imprisonment.
GPS Major Enforcement Actions * Aug 2013 the FCC fined an individual almost $32,000 for using an GPS jamming device outside of Newark Airport, for interfering with the aviation system in 2012. * The FCC fined two companies, one $144,000 and the other $125,000 in April 2013 for using signal jammers at their worksites. * In October 2012 the FCC announced that it was imposing enforcement actions against individuals who were knowingly selling signal jamming devices on craiglist.org. And from that point warned that it would impose strict fines for similar violations from that point on. * In October 2011 the FCC announced that it has issued over 20 enforcement actions against online retailers who were attempting to sell 200 various jamming devices. (FCC.gov)
Michelle Ellison, Chief of FCC made the following statement: “We need consumers to be our eyes and ears. Jammers do not just weed out noisy or annoying conversations and disable unwanted GPS tracking; they can prevent 9‑1‑1 and other emergency phone calls from getting through in a time of need."
GPS Tracking by Government
As of this writing, there are no concrete laws in place when it comes to laws governing the use of GPS by government agencies to track individuals, because there is concern over whether or not unauthorized GPS tracking violates an individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. There is however a bill that has been in the works, to try and provide clarity to the situation, called the GPS Act.
GPS Act
The objective of the GPS Act (Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act) is to give clear guidelines to citizens, and government officials, for how and when geolocation information can be accessed and how it can be used. This bill would see government agencies obtaining warrants similar to those for wiretaps or other electronic surveillance devices by getting a probable cause warrant. The GPS Act would also prohibit businesses from giving out their customers geographical locations without the consent of their customers first. This bill is still pending approval. (gps.gov/policy/legislation) (Congress.gov, House Bill 1312)
Location Privacy Protection Act
Another Bill being currently worked on that pertains to GPS is the Location Privacy Protection Act. This bill focuses on preventing companies from collecting or disclosing geolocation information through electronic communication devices without their permission. There are exclusions included in the bill that relate to parents tracking their children, law enforcement, and emergency services. This bill would also see the prohibition of “stalking apps” and their development to prevent GPS related crimes against women. (Congress.gov, Senate Bill 2171)
US Fleet Tracking
By law, companies have a right to enable any of their company owned vehicles with GPS tracking devices. There is a distributor called US Fleet Tracking, who provides such a service. According to US Fleet Tracking, Businesses will save money by incorporating GPS Tracking Systems into their vehicles. Here are 5 ways US Fleet Tracking determined it could help a company save money by using their GPS Tracking services: 1. Employees will no longer be able to make those side trips they have, in the past, not been held accountable for. If they make a daily hour and a half pit stop the same address listed as home in their personnel file every day will be caught by the boss. 2. Employees who idle their vehicles longer than necessary will be discovered by the boss 3. Employees who continuously exceed the maximum speed of the safety protocol will be caught by the boss. 4. Employees who are clocking in and aren’t really working will be caught by the boss. 5. And Employees who are purposely taking a longer route to clock more hours will also be caught by the boss. (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (PRWEB) September 26, 2014)
When it comes to Laws that relate to GPS, it is still a grey area, There are bills waiting to be written into law that would help establish a more definitive guideline when it comes to the dos and don’ts of GPS tracking. But there are a few laws that are for certain, Law enforcement can’t use GPS to track criminals because it clashes with the fourth amendment laws, our rights to privacy, GPS or other radio signals cannot be legally jammed, disrupted or interfered with. The use of GPS on any company owned fleet, vessels, or commercial vehicles, are at the companies discretion. With GPS becoming standard in most devices, and cars, laws that protect the users of these devices, and/or vehicles privacy are a major concern.