Use Of Global Positioning System Devices Research Articles

S3555 See Something, Say Something: GPS Tracker Foreign Body Ingestion as a Unique Presentation of Human Trafficking

Introduction: An estimated 20 million people are victims of human trafficking around the world annually. In the United States, human trafficking is a federal crime under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. US studies have shown that up to 88% of human trafficking victims seek medical care. Therefore, as physicians we have a unique opportunity to recognize these acts and potentially intervene. The human gastrointestinal cavity is often used for illegal purposes, such as narco-trafficking leading to foreign body ingestion. We present a unique case of a 28-year-old female who was a sex trafficking victim and presented to the hospital after she was forced to swallow two global positioning system (GPS) trackers by her traffickers. Case Description/Methods: A 28-year-old female with history of seizures, presented to the emergency department with 1 week of hematemesis. She reported that she was a human trafficking victim, forced to swallow two GPS trackers 8 days prior. Blood pressure was 106/72, pulse 67, temperature 97.8 °F. Physical examination was negative for abdominal tenderness or distention. Hemoglobin was 10.1 g/dL. CT scan of abdomen and pelvis showed two metallic disc shaped objects in the gastric antrum measuring 2.1 × 0.6 cm each. The gastroenterology team was consulted and performed an urgent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. At EGD, 2 “TILE” tracking GPS devices were found in the antrum, and were removed with Roth net without complication. The social work team was involved, and the retrieved objects were transferred to Homeland Security. Prior to further investigation, the patient left against medical advice, without subsequent return (Figure). Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of endoscopic removal of GPS trackers from a patient’s stomach in the US. This case highlights use of GPS devices for malicious purposes and the clinical challenges posed for healthcare providers. Human trafficking is underrecognized in medicine due to the associated legal and social stigma, with women, children, and financially challenged populations being more likely targets. Victims may not disclose any history of abuse due to fear of retribution. Physicians should have a high level of suspicion when potentially encountering such patients as one interaction and physician intervention may be potentially life-altering or lifesaving for victims of human trafficking.Figure 1.: Two GPS trackers in the gastric antrum.

Comparing the Data Quality of Global Positioning System Devices and Mobile Phones for Assessing Relationships Between Place, Mobility, and Health: Field Study.

BackgroundMobile devices are increasingly used to collect location-based information from individuals about their physical activities, dietary intake, environmental exposures, and mental well-being. Such research, which typically uses wearable devices or mobile phones to track location, benefits from the growing availability of fine-grained data regarding human mobility. However, little is known about the comparative geospatial accuracy of such devices.ObjectiveIn this study, we compared the data quality of location information collected from two mobile devices that determine location in different ways—a global positioning system (GPS) watch and a mobile phone with Google’s Location History feature enabled.MethodsA total of 21 chronically ill participants carried both devices, which generated digital traces of locations, for 28 days. A mobile phone–based brief ecological momentary assessment (EMA) survey asked participants to manually report their location at 4 random times throughout each day. Participants also took part in qualitative interviews and completed surveys twice during the study period in which they reviewed recent mobile phone and watch trace data to compare the devices’ trace data with their memory of their activities on those days. Trace data from the devices were compared on the basis of (1) missing data days, (2) reasons for missing data, (3) distance between the route data collected for matching day and the associated EMA survey locations, and (4) activity space total area and density surfaces.ResultsThe watch resulted in a much higher proportion of missing data days (P<.001), with missing data explained by technical differences between the devices as well as participant behaviors. The mobile phone was significantly more accurate in detecting home locations (P=.004) and marginally more accurate (P=.07) for all types of locations combined. The watch data resulted in a smaller activity space area and more accurately recorded outdoor travel and recreation.ConclusionsThe most suitable mobile device for location-based health research depends on the particular study objectives. Furthermore, data generated from mobile devices, such as GPS phones and smartwatches, require careful analysis to ensure quality and completeness. Studies that seek precise measurement of outdoor activity and travel, such as measuring outdoor physical activity or exposure to localized environmental hazards, would benefit from the use of GPS devices. Conversely, studies that aim to account for time within buildings at home or work, or those that document visits to particular places (such as supermarkets, medical facilities, or fast food restaurants), would benefit from the greater precision demonstrated by the mobile phone in recording indoor activities.

GPS Devices for Elopement of People With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities: A Review of the Published Literature

AbstractElopement, sometimes referred to as absconding, is defined as leaving an area without supervision or carer permission. Global positioning systems (GPS) have been proposed as an intervention for elopement to provide the geographical position of a person who has eloped so that he/she can be located. The authors reviewed the evidence for the use of GPS as an intervention for elopement in people with autism and other developmental disabilities. They found few studies that explored the practicalities of GPS device use among carers of persons with developmental disabilities (most studies have been with carers of people with dementia) and even less research that focused on the testing of the functionality of GPS devices to locate cognitively‐impaired persons. They conclude that this forces the existing empirical research to be sidelined in favor of non‐evidence‐based situational management strategies, of which the use of GPS devices is potentially a viable one. They also note that the results have important implications for policy and practice as there is little evidence to support the widespread recommendation that GPS devices are an effective intervention to prevent risk associated with elopement.

Detecting activity locations from raw GPS data: a novel kernel-based algorithm

BackgroundHealth studies and mHealth applications are increasingly resorting to tracking technologies such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to study the relation between mobility, exposures, and health. GPS tracking generates large sets of geographic data that need to be transformed to be useful for health research. This paper proposes a method to test the performance of activity place detection algorithms, and compares the performance of a novel kernel-based algorithm with a more traditional time-distance cluster detection method.MethodsA set of 750 artificial GPS tracks containing three stops each were generated, with various levels of noise.. A total of 9,000 tracks were processed to measure the algorithms’ capacity to detect stop locations and estimate stop durations, with varying GPS noise and algorithm parameters.ResultsThe proposed kernel-based algorithm outperformed the traditional algorithm on most criteria associated to activity place detection, and offered a stronger resilience to GPS noise, managing to detect up to 92.3% of actual stops, and estimating stop duration within 5% error margins at all tested noise levels.ConclusionsCapacity to detect activity locations is an important feature in a context of increasing use of GPS devices in health and place research. While further testing with real-life tracks is recommended, testing algorithms’ performance with artificial track sets for which characteristics are controlled is useful. The proposed novel algorithm outperformed the traditional algorithm under these conditions.

Police GPS Surveillance on Vehicles and the Warrant Requirement: “For a While I’ve Been Watching You Steady”

The global positioning system (GPS) has become ubiquitous to modern American life. The system supplies direction for travel through navigation systems as well as employee monitoring capabilities (Rosenberg Washington Journal of Law, Technology, and Arts 6:143–154, 2010). Law Enforcement has also found GPS to be a valuable tool. The technology provides a relatively cheap and highly effective way to monitor a suspect’s movement. Depending on the device, travel data can be reported in real time or be retrieved from the implanted device at intervals (Shah Journal of Law, Technology, and Policy 2009:281–294, 2009). This paper will first explore the core foundational Fourth Amendment cases that shape the use of GPS devices by law enforcement. Next, the federal circuits and state supreme courts’ decisions that have addressed the use of GPS will be reviewed. Third, the case of U.S. v. Jones (2012), which was recently decided by the United States Supreme Court, will be examined. Last, the policy implications of the current legal landscape regarding the use of GPS by police will be discussed.

The Fourth Amendment in an Age of New Technologies: Circuits Split Over Warrantless Gps Tracking

On August 6, 2010, the District of Columbia Circuit Court held in United States v. Maynard that law enforcement agents’ use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to monitor the location of a car on public roads constitutes a Fourth Amendment search and seizure when conducted over a long period of time. Thus, the D.C. Circuit held that police must obtain a warrant before using GPS device to monitor vehicles.The D.C. Circuit decision directly contradicts a recent decision in the Eight Circuit and a 2007 decision in the Seventh Circuit, respectively United States v. Marquez and United States v. Garcia. Additionally, last month the Ninth Circuit refused to re-hear a ruling upholding the warrantless use of GPS devices in United States v. Pineda-Moreno over the dissent of five judges. The Circuit sets up a potentially landmark Supreme Court decision and the reexamination of United States v. Knotts which held that law enforcement agents’ use of a beeper device to aid the tracking of a suspect to his drug lab was not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The D.C. Circuit refused to apply Knotts to law enforcement agents’ use of a GPS device, determining Knotts reserved the question at issue, while the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits found Knotts controlling.This Comment will first examine the history of the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment landmark decisions, examining United States v. Katz, Kyllo v. United States, and Knotts. Second, this Comment will discuss the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits’ rulings that law enforcement agents use of a GPS tracking device does not require a warrant and the D.C. Circuit’s contradictory ruling that requires a warrant.Third, this Comment will analyze the current state of the law, determining that while Knotts is distinguishable, the Court must decide whether law enforcement agents’ use of a GPS tracking device requires a warrant within the framework handed down in Knotts. This Comment will especially focus on the D.C. Circuit’s contrasting decision in United States v. Maynard and its potential to reshape Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.Fourth, this Comment will argue that under the Knotts framework, the Supreme Court should rule that the warrantless use of a GPS tracking device to track a suspect’s movements outside his home does not constitute a “search” or “seizure” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and examine the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the flawed reasoning in Maynard. In conclusion, this Comment will emphasize the magnitude of the potential Supreme Court decision and analyze its effects on law enforcement as well as individual privacy.