The high cost of modern technology
Do you know where your husband is? Do you know how fast your teens are driving when they're behind the wheel? And how about Fido -- ever wonder where he wanders off to?
These questions can be answered in no time, thanks to global positioning technology now infiltrating our lives.
Forget hiring the private eye, using binoculars or wearing the wig and dark glasses. That's rookie stuff. When it comes to spying, the electronic eye is king.
And when it comes to protecting a love one, a global positioning system can be a lifesaver. It can find a dementia patient who forgets how to get home, track a missing child or even a lost dog.
The Internet features hundreds of products that promise to spy, to find out if someone is lying and even to track your spouse's every move.
Trackstick, a GPS device the size of a candy bar, costs under $200 and is easy to use. You only have to add batteries, turn it on and download the software.
Every five seconds, the device locks onto three satellites and triangulates a position. Only skyscrapers and bad weather can interfere.
Since one of my bosses, Liz Rocca, asked me to test the product and put together story, I put the Trackstick on her car without her knowing.
Everywhere she went, the GPS showed me.
Then I told Liz the truth.
"Did you put something on me to track me?" she asked me.
"I tracked you," I said. "I put it on your car."
"You put it on my car," she said. "Ahhh...my lawyer."
I interfaced the Trackstick software with Google Earth, which showed where Liz went and how fast she drove. And when she stopped, it showed how long the car was parked at that location.
"I feel violated. I feel stalked. I feel like I'm never going to to assign you to do one of these stories again," Liz said.
Linda Criddle, an Internet safety specialist, author, and former senior product manager for child safety at Microsoft, sympathizes.
"I think that's stalking, and I don't think stalking is acceptable," she said. "When you start putting these on people, you start getting into real ethical questions."
Robert Peak of Kirkland served time for stalking his wife with a similar device. Investigators said two years ago, he hid a GPS tracker under the dashboard of her car. The set up was so elaborate that the device turned on whenever the ignition was switched on. The engine even charged its battery.
"The litmus test people should be asking, 'how would I feel if they were doing this to me?'" Criddle said.
Criddle said she believes all GPS devices should come with a warning, and users need to get active consent before tracking someone. In the end, she said, people should value trust, one of "the most valuable human connections."
But human nature being what is, Criddle suspects more and more people will be watching you.
These questions can be answered in no time, thanks to global positioning technology now infiltrating our lives.
Forget hiring the private eye, using binoculars or wearing the wig and dark glasses. That's rookie stuff. When it comes to spying, the electronic eye is king.
And when it comes to protecting a love one, a global positioning system can be a lifesaver. It can find a dementia patient who forgets how to get home, track a missing child or even a lost dog.
The Internet features hundreds of products that promise to spy, to find out if someone is lying and even to track your spouse's every move.
Trackstick, a GPS device the size of a candy bar, costs under $200 and is easy to use. You only have to add batteries, turn it on and download the software.
Every five seconds, the device locks onto three satellites and triangulates a position. Only skyscrapers and bad weather can interfere.
Since one of my bosses, Liz Rocca, asked me to test the product and put together story, I put the Trackstick on her car without her knowing.
Everywhere she went, the GPS showed me.
Then I told Liz the truth.
"Did you put something on me to track me?" she asked me.
"I tracked you," I said. "I put it on your car."
"You put it on my car," she said. "Ahhh...my lawyer."
I interfaced the Trackstick software with Google Earth, which showed where Liz went and how fast she drove. And when she stopped, it showed how long the car was parked at that location.
"I feel violated. I feel stalked. I feel like I'm never going to to assign you to do one of these stories again," Liz said.
Linda Criddle, an Internet safety specialist, author, and former senior product manager for child safety at Microsoft, sympathizes.
"I think that's stalking, and I don't think stalking is acceptable," she said. "When you start putting these on people, you start getting into real ethical questions."
Robert Peak of Kirkland served time for stalking his wife with a similar device. Investigators said two years ago, he hid a GPS tracker under the dashboard of her car. The set up was so elaborate that the device turned on whenever the ignition was switched on. The engine even charged its battery.
"The litmus test people should be asking, 'how would I feel if they were doing this to me?'" Criddle said.
Criddle said she believes all GPS devices should come with a warning, and users need to get active consent before tracking someone. In the end, she said, people should value trust, one of "the most valuable human connections."
But human nature being what is, Criddle suspects more and more people will be watching you.