AirTags are technological micromarvels, costing around $30 each and helping Virginians find misplaced car keys. Some people use AirTags to discover that their political opponents steal campaign signs. Some despicable people use GPS trackers to prey on kids. And some particularly vile people use tracking technology against their spouses during separation and divorce.

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GPS Tracking Technology

We really are living in the future. The Global Positioning System (GPS) first appeared in the 1970s. It is a two-tiered system for regular folks (Standard Positioning Service or SPS) and for the military and law enforcement (Precise Positioning Service or PPS).

The SPS component of GPS allows civilians to use military-grade navigational radio satellites to plot exact positions on earth. While the military system is precise to less than 3 meters (about 10 feet), the rest of us enjoy accuracy within 9 meters (about 30 feet).

The radio signals travel to earth from a minimum of 24 satellites whose signals reach just about every spot on the globe. (Still, some places — Death Valley pops to mind — are not well served by GPS trackers.)

All earthbound folks need is a receiver to benefit from GPS satellites. Your smart phone and car’s electronics package are two such receivers. Another is the clunky, sticky GPS tracker used by police to end dangerous car chases.

Types of Trackers

Other receivers are available online and in electronics stores. Some are so small, nervous parents can slip them into kids’ backpacks and coat pockets. People put them on dog collars, on bicycles, and in baby strollers. Fleet owners and car owners put aftermarket GPS trackers in vehicles.

Delivery workers for one of the world’s largest companies may grumble about being tracked, but they do not own the company vehicles. The company legally puts trackers in vans and lets customers know when packages are 10 stops away.

No state or federal law prevents you from placing a GPS tracker on anything you own. It’s yours — track it all you want.

AirTags do not use GPS. They rely on Bluetooth transmission to a smartphone equipped with GPS technology. They have a very limited range of 30 to 100 feet, but a smartphone can get information on an AirTag if the AirTag is within range of any Bluetooth device on the Find My network (we are awash in more than a billion such devices).

Is Putting a GPS Tracker on a Car Illegal?

What can your wife legally do to track your vehicle’s whereabouts? Not much!  Virginia Code § 18.2-60.5 says,

“Any person who installs or places an electronic tracking device through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, or causes an electronic tracking device to be installed or placed through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, and uses such device to track the location of any person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

In Virginia you also have legal protection from electronic stalking under § 18.2-60.3, which is also punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. If your wife — or ex-wife — does not learn a lesson and repeats the behavior within five years of the first conviction, she can be charged with a Class 6 felony.

The Penalties for Putting a Tracking Device on Someone’s Car

Punishment for a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia is explained in Virginia Code § 18.2-11:

The authorized punishments for conviction of a misdemeanor are:

(a) For Class 1 misdemeanors, confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both…

We especially like the “either or both” portion. It gives the offender the feeling of being on a game show. Will you get hit with up to a year in the pokey? A $2,500 fine? Or the Showcase, jail and a fine?

Can a GPS Tracker Be Admitted as Evidence?

Thanks to United States Supreme Court case law — we’re looking at you, United States v. Jones — your wife in most cases cannot place GPS tracker data from your vehicle into trial evidence, such as during divorce proceedings.

Even if she managed to get a search warrant and had law enforcement install the tracker, the evidence would likely be inadmissible.

You are protected by the Fourth Amendment (that’s the one that protects the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”).

You in your car — in your garage, on a city street, in a parking garage, on a highway or stuck in the mud in Death Valley — have a “reasonable expectation of privacy,” says the U.S. Supreme Court. Your wife cannot violate that expectation by placing a GPS tracker on a car you own.

That right does not extend to a jointly owned vehicle, so plan well: keep your vehicle in your name and let your wife keep her vehicle in her name. (And, obviously, do not put a tracker on her car.)

Dealing with an Unwanted GPS Tracker

Law enforcement officers and attorneys will not advise you to take matters into your own hands by confronting your wife or removing the GPS tracker on your vehicle.

Some ways to deal with an unwanted GPS tracker:

  • Swap cars with a friend for a few days so your GPS tracker visits unfamiliar places randomly, confusing your estranged wife and undermining her evidence
  • Jam the GPS tracker’s signal with another device (though this may trigger an escalation of electronic gadgetry)
  • Inform police of your discovery (and ask law enforcement officers to remove it, bag it and tag it, and create a chain of custody for evidence)

Connect with an experienced attorney as soon as you find or suspect a GPS tracker. Your attorney will provide suitable responses to an invasion of privacy and the trampling of your Constitutional rights.

And, if the GPS tracking is part of a larger pattern of misbehavior, it can help a Virginia Circuit Court court get a complete picture of your wife’s motivations in your separation and divorce.

When facing family law challenges, turn to The Firm For Men right away. We protect your rights — your right to travel unencumbered, your right against unreasonable searches and seizures, and your right to privacy. Call our Virginia Beach offices at (757) 383-9184 or contact us online today! And one more thing: stay away from Death Valley.