Aside from making driving easier, the on-board electronics revolution has given some people a new direction in their lives. Unfortunately, it could take them right into your bedroom or living room.
These people are GPS thieves. When they steal your device, they sometimes get more than just an electronics item they can sell for $100 or more on the street. They get your home address.
With the push of a button, one common navigational feature, the home setting, fully automates the process of directing you to your home—a convenience that burglars and stalkers are sure to appreciate. It’s enough to turn your free-floating anxiety about data theft into full-blown paranoia about home invasion.
The possibilities seem endless. The units’ presence in a vehicle like Lexus or a BMW, for example, could give thieves a clue to a much bigger haul at the owner’s home. And if they steal the garage door opener, too, they may be able to get inside the house with ease.
Two years ago, thieves stole a number of Acura cars from a corporation’s garage in Atlanta, and, in three cases, they used the GPS units in the cars to find and then burglarize employees’ homes.
And just last month, two men were accused of a GPS-guided crime spree in Michigan and northern Ohio. They allegedly broke into vehicles parked at shopping centers, stole the units and then burglarized home after home. Police figure the same pair may have been responsible for burglaries in about 20 communities.
This “take me home” function works in reverse as well, helping police identify the owners of lost or stolen GPS devices. In November, police in New Jersey found a Garmin unit in a small cache of stolen goods. By setting the device to its home setting, they were able to identify the owner and return it.
But the bottom line is that, at least theoretically, some of your personal information could be available to anyone getting a hold of your navigational device.
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