WASHINGTON – When a woman in New Jersey thought her husband was having an affair, she hired a private investigator who caught him after placing a GPS tracking device in his car.
Now, a New Jersey court has ruled the act was not an invasion of privacy, a decision that in some ways makes legal tracking someone via GPS.
The GPS device was secretly placed inside the glove box of the husband’s SUV after the private investigator’s attempts to follow the man failed.
Two weeks after the tracking began, the investigator discovered the husband pulling out of a driveway with another woman.
After the findings of the investigation were revealed, the husband sued claiming the tracking was an invasion of his privacy.
But a New Jersey appeals court ruled the use of the device was legal because during the time he was under surveillance, the husband drove only in public places where there is no expectation of privacy.
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether police need a warrant before using a tracking device to follow a suspect. The high court will rule on the case during its next term, which begins in October.
