What happens if the police install a GPS tracker on your vehicle without a warrant? (2024)

THE JUBA LAW OFFICE, PLLC

Sep 1st, 2023

Police officers regularly use GPS trackers to follow potential suspects and can install a GPS tracker on your vehicle without your knowledge. But what if it is installed on your vehicle without the police first obtaining a warrant? You should immediately contact a lawyer at The Juba Law Office for help.

The installation of a GPS tracker on a vehicle implicates the Fourth Amendment protections against “unreasonable searches”[1]. In the case of United States v. Jones[2], the United States Supreme Court held that the attachment of a GPS tracking device to a person’s vehicle to “monitor the vehicle’s movements on public streets” constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.

The “basic purpose” of the Fourth Amendment “is to safeguard the privacy and security of individuals against arbitrary invasions by governmental officials”[3]. A federal court in United States v. Ortiz[4] held that “Jones requires that courts give significant weight to the trespass that occurs when a GPS device is installed on a vehicle,” and that “[t]he privacy interest infringed by monitoring of the GPS device also deserves considerable weight.” This is because GPS trackers can provide “information about the vehicle’s whereabouts by periodic points twenty-four hours a day for approximately a month without regard to where the vehicle goes, who drives it, or whether” the police are actively monitoring it. The court ultimately held that the “installation and monitoring of GPS trackers on defendant’s vehicle without a warrant violated defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, and the exclusionary rule requires exclusion of evidence obtained through use of those GPS trackers.”

The installation of GPS trackers on a vehicle, or any other piece of property, raises significant privacy concerns, particularly when it allows the police to perform twenty-four-hour surveillance. The attorneys at The Juba Law Office handle these types of cases and can help you fight your case.