If You’re Worried About GPS Tracking You May Fear The Wrong Evil

A lot of traffic here that the GPS ROI blog comes from people who used a search term similar to how can I keep my boss (or parent, spouse, local law enforcement, etc.) from tracking me? It’s a very understandable question and I can understand why the thought of being monitored sets people’s nerves on edge. But something I’ve noticed lately is that GPS has become the “bogey man de jour” … as folks become aware of how many businesses have chosen to increase safety and profitability by GPS tracking employee vehicles, how many parents are now interested in GPS tracking for their teens, how many crime investigations are now influenced by GPS tracking data, they have focused on the issues and fears surrounding GPS technology.

For those who are passionate about privacy and protection from surveillance and self-incrimination I would suggest that you are focusing on only a very narrow subset of the devices “big brother” is keep tabs on you with.

Except for certain highly sophisticated clandestine law enforcement type GPS trackers it is pretty easy to tell when one is installed on a vehicle. And pretty easy to defeat since there has to be an antenna that can see the sky. For the cell phone “worries” the situation is even simpler … turn off the tracking feature from the menu on the phone … or turn the damn phone off. Of course, if you drive a GM car (and now a few other brands) you may be pretty sure there’s a GPS on board … if you are the owner of the car you can have it turned off, if you aren’t, there are several destructive or non-destructive measures you can take to defeat the ubiquitous On Star GPS tracking.

But your car is tracking a great many things you are doing on a second by second basis and GPS has nothing at all to do with the situation. Almost every car and light truck built since the year 2000 has one or more Electronic Data Recorders (EDR) which measures many events about the car and the driver’s operation … more and more every year. Exactly what is being recorded? Ah, there’s the rub. These black boxes are not easily accessible and not easily read out by your corner car mechanic. The law regarding who has access is cloudy to say the least as well.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently passed a regulation requiring manufacturers to tell consumers if their newly purchased cars are equipped with an event data recorder. Although this regulation does not go into effect until 2010, chances are your vehicle already has an EDR. According to the National Motorist Association, in 2004 over 30 million vehicles on the road were equipped with EDRs.

Currently, the black box information can and is used against drivers in court. Additionally, police officers can take a black box from an accident site, many times without a warrant in most states. Your car is most likely recording things about your driving and that information can be used against you if you have a traffic accident.

At a minimum, figure that any car with air bags is recording:

• Driver’s Seat Belt – this is recorded as buckled or unbuckled.
• SIR Warning Lamp – the on/off status of the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint warning lamp.
• Change in Forward Velocity … how fast you slowed down (from which your speed can easily be calculated)
• Time to Deployment – the time in milliseconds between the start of the event (an “event” is a 2g or more acceleration, typically hitting something or slamming on the brakes).
• Time Between Events – the time in seconds between a deployment event and a near deployment event
• Vehicle Speed – the pre-crash speed, recorded every second for 5 seconds prior to any event. This information is derived from the vehicle speed sensor.
• Engine RPM – engine speed, as derived from the engine management system. As with vehicle speed, it is recorded every second for 5 seconds prior to any event.
• Throttle Opening – the percentage that the throttle is open, where 100 per cent is wide open.
• Brake Status – brakes on/off.
• Data Validity – a check that none of the four pre-crash parameters is out of range or has logged faults.
  In addition, the number of ignition key cycles at the time of the events and at the time of download is logged, as is whether the passenger-side front airbag has been manually switched off.”

Scary? There’s likely more to come, and you won’t even know about what’s on your own vehicle until you buy a 2011 model. So, if you’re anti-GPS, hey, that’s fine with me, but make sure something even more intrusive isn’t looking over your shoulder even if you are 100% “GPS free”.