What are the legalities of tracking a vehicle with GPS?
Scenario (please use your imagination):
I run a car dealership (privately owned – not one with a label stuck to it from a big company). For argument’s sake, let’s just call it “Rockin’ Rides”
What I want to know, is that if I, the owner of Rockin’ Rides either lease out a vehicle, or provide my comsumers with a loan for said vehicle, is it legal for me to place a GPS tracking device on the vehicle?
This would not be monitored 24/7 — it would ONLY be used in the circumstance that the person at the other end of the lease or loan didn’t pay their bill enough times to warrant repossession. The device would be removed the moment their vehicle is paid for in full or their lease is bought out.
Technically, the vehicle is still mine so I figure I should be allowed to track my own property, but at the same time I’d essentially be tracking the person as well which is where the legal questions come in.
Does anyone have any insight or possibly real answers? If it helps, I live on Ontario (Canada).
Thanks!
about 1 year ago
Well i am pretty sure its legal at least here where i live in the United States. However you need to inform the buyer that you are planning on putting a small device that will reveal the location of the car ONLY if they do not pay. What you said has been done before. There are devices that require you to put in a code provided by the dealer to start the car.
about 1 year ago
In Most countries, this is illegal, and is a criminal practice. The only way that It would become legal if the driver of the car were to sign a disclaimer acknowledging the tracker, and he/she accepts it. But, logically, this would lead to problems in your case. The customer would know that the tracker was there, and if intent on not paying the bills, would simply remove the tracker from the car.
about 1 year ago
I am not an attorney however, your right to track your own assets is not a violation of the 4th amendment. The questions of legality of using trackers is mainly directed at the police and their right to place a tracker on a vehicle without a warrant. For instance it is illegal in New York and legal in Wisconsin. Would you violate the law by placing a tracker in your child’s car? There is nowhere in the law the differentiates between family members and anyone else. To protect the integrity of your business I would place a notice in the car stating that it has a tracking device installed. In 1983 the Supreme Court ruled that police had the right to place an electronic “beeper” on a suspects automobile to tract that car. Substantially they ruled that a person cannot expect privacy while driving on public roads. Good luck. To find out more about trackers try http://the-portable-gps.com/car-gps-tracking.html