Privacy Revisited: GPS Tracking as Search and Seizure

Abstract

The article focuses on the laws provided regarding the use of global positioning system (GPS) tracking for search and seizure purposes which may affect privacy. It discusses court cases in which the law has been applied, along with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court whether GPS tracking of a vehicle by law enforcement establishes a search under the Fourth Amendment. Moreover, it relays that use of GPS device in the law enforcement to trace the direction of a vehicle constantly for an extensive period of time is a grave invasion into the rational expectation of privacy of the motorist which establishes a search under the Fourth Amendment. It also mentions that the affixation of the GPS device to a vehicle may also establish a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.