USC Stix Nix to GPS Trix

[Stinky The Clown]

Good news for privacy from the Shitbirds of DC:

Supreme Court rules warrant needed for GPS tracking

The ruling, which marked the justices' first-ever review of GPS tracking, was unanimous. The justices divided, however, on how the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies to such high-tech tracking.

The case, which during November oral arguments prompted justices' references to George Orwell's futuristic novel 1984, ensures that police cannot use GPS to continuously track a suspect before presenting sufficient grounds and obtaining a warrant from a judge. Monday's decision specifically applies when police install GPS on a person's car. But five justices suggested in concurring statements that a warrant might similarly be needed for prolonged surveillance through smartphones or other devices equipped with GPS.

The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally developed for the military, relies on satellites that transmit to receivers that calculate the latitude and longitude of a location. A GPS device installed by police can be used to follow a person 24 hours a day. Data can be collected and analyzed far more efficiently and economically than if a team of agents followed a person.

The court reversed the cocaine-trafficking conviction of a Washington, D.C., nightclub owner. In 2005, police attached a GPS device to a Jeep owned by Antoine Jones while it was parked in a public lot. Agents then used evidence of Jones' travels over four weeks to help win the conviction on conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

>snip<

More here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/story/2012-01-23/supreme-court-GPS/52754354/1

I wish to thank VARIETY for the inspiration for the headline.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I'm gunna kick this once because it is real news