Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

College Student Finds GPS On Car, FBI Retrieves It

Posted by Soulskill on from the everybody-gets-one-in-the-tailpipe dept.

mngdih writes with this excerpt from Wired: "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 their expensive device back ... His discovery comes in the wake of a recent ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals saying it's legal for law enforcement to secretly place a tracking device on a suspect's car without getting a warrant, even if the car is parked in a private driveway. ... 'We have all the information we needed,' they told him. 'You don't need to call your lawyer. Don't worry, you're boring.'"

20 of 851 comments (clear)

  1. Finders Keepers? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How about a bit of "finders keepers" and disassemble and report of the technology. Followed up by a "Does it Blend" episode !

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re:Finders Keepers? by falsified · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is NOT a good analogy. The iPhone was found in a bar, and the jackass that "found" it knew whose it was and made no attempt to give it back. This device was intentionally left attached to the car, with the hope that it would never be found. Basically, the two situations are opposites of each other.

      --
      HI, MY NAME IS ISAAC.
    2. Re:Finders Keepers? by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Your in college and find a strange device attached to your car.
      I don't know about you but I would have taken it apart to see what it was. I would have figured it was some joke a friend had made.
      If it wasn't marked as federal property how should I know?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    3. Re:Finders Keepers? by Defenestrar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Especially if you have a family you are taking care of. You have that extra drive to make sure your daughter will grow up in a free country, but that's tempered by the knowledge that certain acts of civil disobedience (or extrapolating to an illegally oppressive government - those may be acts of constitutional obedience) may place you in custody/court for a sufficient amount of time to lose your job. That could result in failure to pay mortgage, inability to obtain another job within your career, etc...

      I like to think that my daughter will still think of me as her hero and role model when she grows up, and I know my wife would support me (we'd probably be in trouble together actually) if it were one of the Big freedom issues. So what do you do when it's things like back scatter screening on a field-trip to the courthouse or driving through a DUI checkpoint in the coldest form of sobriety?

      This is the insidious danger inherent in the erosion of freedom: not enough to die for, not even enough to make you homeless or hungry or inconvenienced over, but enough, over time, to leave you with a shallow shadow of what our ancestors died for.

    4. Re:Finders Keepers? by Americano · · Score: 4, Interesting

      being 'legally right' is moot. They are already carrying out secret operations against you.

      I think you mean "They are already carrying out completely legal operations against you, using the legitimate and constitutional authority granted to them by a court of law," right?

      You may not LIKE the authority they're given, but as the law stands today, they absolutely have every right to do it, and it *is* legal for them to do it. If you don't LIKE it, you should vote for legislative candidates who will promise to do something about the issue that concerns you. Or, become a candidate yourself, and educate your fellow citizens about the abuses of power you will correct when you're a representative or senator.

  2. Power source. by Timmmm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Apparently it is powered by batteries, but I always wondered if you could power one by attaching a peltier module to the exhaust...

    1. Re:Power source. by MarkvW · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No. It wouldn't be considered theft--or a trespass. That's an easy call.

      It MIGHT be considered a "taking" within 5th Amendment jurisprudence. The 5th Amendment says that you can't take a person's property without just compensation. I'm not going to do the research for a /. posting that even I would urge not to be taken seriously, but the law's not absolutely clear on this.

      If the cops rip your house apart pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant, that is a legitimate exercise of the police power. The government may do that without compensation (in many jurisdictions) without offending the Constitution, because you are not entitled to just compensation for police power activity (think the destruction of your neighbor's house to save everybody else's house in a big fire). Many jurisdictions offer compensation for this kind of stuff because they dont' want the electorate totally pissed at them. But compensation is optional.

      Now, if the cops have no probable cause and no reasonable suspicion that the target is engaging in criminal activity, has evidence of it, etc., then it may be debatable whether or not the FBI is engaging in a legitimate exercise of the "police power." This might form the basis of a legal "taking" argument because the government isn't exercising the police power--it's just plain taking.

      People who are "taken" from are entitled to sue for just compensation (and if they win they get attorney fees). The FBI didnt' do much damage, but they did assert control over the person's automobile and did take power from that automobile. Even de minimis takings are takings. It could be quite a class action lawsuit (and it may very well turn out to be so).

      No wonder the national deficit is getting insanely huge. Investigations of people like this guy, multiplied over and over, are phenomenally expensive. The United States is chasing its tail and it's pitifully embarrassing.

  3. What happens if you destroy it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you just find one of these and don't realize that it belongs to the FBI, and think "doesn't belong" and destory it (or just toss it in a dumpster), are you liable to pay for it when the FBI comes to get it back?

    1. Re:What happens if you destroy it? by Grizzley9 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      B/C they found the one they wanted him to find...

    2. Re:What happens if you destroy it? by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Stick it to some cargo truck going cross country or something similar. A railroad carriage would be fine too.

      Even better would be to replicate the device so there are a set of devices claiming to be "it" and send all copies all over the country. Could be a fun game of hide and seek.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    3. Re:What happens if you destroy it? by Obfuscant · · Score: 4, Interesting
      ~50,000 students attend that school and none of them are being tracked,

      Are you an official spokesman for the FBI who has firsthand knowledge of this as a fact, or are you making this up as you go along?

      ... except the Arabic one who has no prior criminal history/evidence of wrong doing.

      After reading the Wired article, we learn many things:

      • His father took the family back to Egypt, but he alone returned.
      • He regularly sends money back to people (his brothers) in Egypt.
      • His "friend" allegedly posted something about bombs on a website and was known to be under investigation.
      • He was contacted by the FBI before for questioning.
      • He's on the watch list for flying.
      • His lawyer is a member of CAIR. CAIR:
        • "seeks to empower the American Muslim community and encourage its social and political activism.", according to wikipedia.
        • was created by "three officers of the Islamic Association of Palestine" (ibid), and we all know that Palestinians have absolutely no axe to grind with the US.
        • In 1998, Omar Ahmad (a joint founder of CAIR) was reported to have said: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."
      • He's going on "a short business trip" to Dubai in a few weeks.

      Of course, none of that is illegal, but neither is going to a flight school and asking to taught how to fly. The point being, those who claim he was targeted only because he was half-Egytian or that this is based on profiling aren't looking at the entire picture.

      CAIR, in particular, looks a lot like the German-American Bund from pre-WWII days. They claimed to be formed to further German-American relations, but promoted Nazi propaganda and anti-semitism, as well as being a cover for espionage.

      The fact he was knowingly driving with expired plates makes him a valid traffic stop by any policeman he goes by.

    4. Re:What happens if you destroy it? by wierd_w · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sorry AC, but I need to bust some chops here.

      My dad was a police officer for 26 years. he fits GGP's profile for egomaniac quite well. He is also paranoid, and an "end of the world" nutter.

      I grew up hearing stories from his work that would make any sensible person cringe concering civil rights violations of people based on the simple "gut instincts" of police officers, as well as even scarier stories of corruption, racketeering, and conspiracy. (I firmly believe that my dad is a paranoid, power abusing crank BECAUSE of the experiences in his life. Becoming a policeman AFTER being in Korea does NOT a sane mind make.)

      The icing on the shitcake you just spun, is that I have had a front seat view of the behind the scenes goings on of these "oh so misunderstood, and noble policepeople." As scary as my dad is, he really WAS one of the LEAST corrupt; That doesnt excuse his behavior any, it is merely a frightening observation. People who are sworn to protect citizens and enforce the law were actively engaged in beating first, and asking questions later, extorting money and information from known prostitues, Covering up criminal activities of wealthy citizens--including murder--etc.

      Do I have proof? No. Did these things really happen? Who knows. there is no evidence; and that is kinda the point. I simply know I have heard officers joking and laughing about such things, the way geeks joke about their encrypted porn collections.

      Law enforcement attracts a specific kind of person; People that LIKE to enforce. The problem is that these peopel dont always enforce the LAW, but rather their own personal version of it. Again, my dad was no exception.

      So, forgive me if I tell you to take your candy coated version of the poor, misunderstood and downtrodden civil servant, and stuff it were the sun doesnt shine. IF such officers still exist, they comprise FAR less than 1% of the active force.

  4. Not hard to guess why he was being looked at by Dancindan84 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not saying it's right, but "Afifi said he often travels for business and has two teenage brothers in Egypt whom he supports financially." Frequent traveling along with sending (presumably) large amounts of cash to the middle-east has to raise some red flags.

    --
    "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
  5. Could have been interesting by OhHellWithIt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It would be really interesting to see what would have happened had he disposed of it in a lake before the FBI showed up. There's nothing in the photo to indicate that it belongs to the government; it could have been placed by a private detective. As far as I'm concerned, if you attach something to my car without my permission, it's mine.

    --
    "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
    1. Re:Could have been interesting by hedwards · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or, better yet, call 911 and report a suspicious device attached to your car. Given what I saw in the picture, that would've been my first step. The device itself isn't easily distinguishable from a bomb. It's clearly got at least 3 of the components necessary, and I personally wouldn't go screwing around with something that has that many components without a robot to do it for me.

  6. Re:Replant the device by literaldeluxe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Or drop it off at the police station or mail it to the FBI. An unmarked box containing electronics that sends out transmissions? They'll get the bomb squad to deal with it. Then it ends up on the news, and people will actually hear about it.

  7. Re:OUCH by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Interesting

    grandstanding.

    99.9% of us are boring.

    so what? people just want to live their lives. terror is over-rated and over-reported.

    how much is wasted chasing boogeymen? how many of these chases end up bothing innocent people under a dragnet?

    sickening. I hate this aspect of how my country is now acting. its like a child who has not learned from the past and keeps repeating the same 'wolf!' call over and over again.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  8. Re:Replant the device by ravenscar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Interstate truck? That's far too easy. I'm thinking something like slip it in some meat and feed it to a gator in the Everglades.

  9. Example of why California has strict gun control by WillAdams · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Someone doing that in my neck of the woods would be greeted by a shotgun-toting homeowner and held for trespassing until the Sheriff showed up.

    The Fourth Amendment reads:

    ``The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.''

    If there's no warrant or probable cause or justifiable reason to be there, they had better stay off my property.

    --
    Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  10. Not saying I'm ok with it... by kungfugleek · · Score: 4, Interesting
    ..but it wasn't totally out of the blue. FTA:

    Six months ago, a former roommate of his was visited by FBI agents who said they wanted to speak with Afifi. Afifi contacted one agent and was told the agency received an anonymous tip from someone saying he might be a threat to national security. Afifi told the agent he was willing to answer questions if his lawyer approved. But after Afifi's lawyer contacted the agency, he never heard from the feds again until he found their tracking device.