And Then... A NY Court Says No To Police GPS Tracking
from the a-difference-of-opinion dept
On Monday, we wrote about the Wisconsin ruling that police didn't violate anyone's rights in putting a GPS device on the car of someone they were tracking. It didn't take long for a different court in a different case to disagree. A bunch of folks have sent in the news that a court in NY had tossed out a similar case, claiming that the GPS evidence was illegally obtained. The ruling lays out many of the reasons why such technologies aren't the same as simply observing what someone does in public:"What the technology yields and records with breathtaking quality and quantity is a highly detailed profile, not simply of where we go, but by easy inference, of our associations -- political, religious, amicable and amorous, to name only a few -- and of the pattern of our professional and avocational pursuits."I expect that we'll be seeing many more such cases in the next few years until this is settled either by the law or the Supreme Court.
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Filed Under: first amendment, gps tracking, law enforcement, privacy
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WI. why?
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Re: WI. why?
VRP
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my 2 cents
This should at a minimum require the same due process as a regular wire tap.
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Proactive Approach
I'm tired of lazy politicians who will not step up and represent the people who voted them into office.
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Re: The same?
Because this kind of high level surveillance is now so cheap, that the balance between enabling law enforcement and protecting citizen privacy has completely shifted to one side.
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Re: Re: The same?
VRP
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USSC will not affect NY
As noted in the decision, NY's Constitution/laws are more protective than the US Constitution. So even if the USSC rules that police can put GPS units on a car without a warrant, NY's ruling will stay the same because it confers more rights. IOW the USSC will set the minimum, but states will be able to restrict law enforcement more if they so choose.
And that's a good thing.
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WOW
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Re: WOW
By police. You left that part out.
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Or, perhaps the vehicle owner could charge a transportation fee. The added weight costs money to haul around and therefore is subject to a charge.
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Re: Liability?
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That being said, our local police dept. put a GPS in one of the squad cars to track what the officers were doing. Of course, it ended up on a bus. Took them a while to figure out why the cop was driving to other towns. Hahaha, they were pretty pissed.
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Cost has nothing to do with if something is illegal or not.
What would Automatic machine-guns cost if they were available in every corner store?
VRP
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