FBI bugs man’s car, man finds bug, FBI wants it back
posted at 1:29 pm on October 9, 2010 by MadisonConservative
A California student got a visit from the FBI this week after he found a secret GPS tracking device on his car, and a friend posted photos of it online. The post prompted wide speculation about whether the device was real, whether the young Arab-American was being targeted in a terrorism investigation and what the authorities would do.
It took just 48 hours to find out: The device was real, the student was being secretly tracked and the FBI wanted its expensive device back, the student told Wired.com in an interview Wednesday.
…
Afifi considered selling the device on Craigslist before the FBI showed up. He was in his apartment Tuesday afternoon when a roommate told him “two sneaky-looking people” were near his car. Afifi, already heading out for an appointment, encountered a man and woman looking at his vehicle outside. The man asked if Afifi knew his registration tag was expired. When Afifi asked if it bothered him, the man just smiled. Afifi got into his car and headed for the parking lot exit when two SUVs pulled up with flashing lights carrying four police officers in bullet-proof vests.
The agent who initially spoke with Afifi identified himself then as Vincent and told Afifi, “We’re here to recover the device you found on your vehicle. It’s federal property. It’s an expensive piece, and we need it right now.”
Afifi asked, “Are you the guys that put it there?” and the agent replied, “Yeah, I put it there.” He told Afifi, “We’re going to make this much more difficult for you if you don’t cooperate.”
Personally, if I found something like that on my car, I’d probably be calling the SWAT team to get it taken care of, not Midas. The most unfortunate part is the thug outfit he had to turn to:
Afifi’s attorney, who works for the civil liberties-focused Council on American Islamic Relations, said this kind of tracking is more egregious than the kind her office usually sees.
The real question: how much could he have gotten for it on Craigslist? Over/under $150?
Blowback
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Did I understand from the comments above that they can tap into a car’s electrical system in order to power the gps device–without a warrant?
Surely even if they are allowed to track a car electronically, given that they could surveil it visually in public places, and do so without a warrant, they cannot be allowed to make physical modifications to the car without a warrant?
TexasDan on October 11, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Well, grey area, the device draws current from the car, but that doesn’t necessarily constitute modification of the car.
Does the device draw power when the car is off? That would tend to run down the battery, which crosses a line.
LarryD on October 11, 2010 at 5:06 PM
Hodges: Right. In some cases all the GPS tracking equipment can be installed on the exterior of the vehicle and we’re not having to intrude in the vehicle’s interior or the trunk or taping into the vehicle’s wiring. In that case there is no intrusion into a REP area because there’s no REP as to the exterior of a vehicle. If officers do have to go into interior of the vehicle or the trunk or tap into the vehicle’s wiring, they we are going to have an intrusion into a REP area and then a warrant is going to be required.
G M on October 11, 2010 at 7:11 PM
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