Is this what they mean by Catch 22?

[jimpeel]

The FBI is in a pickle. They have been disallowed from tracking people by GPS; but all of those trackers out there cannot be found now that they have turned them off. They have lost >3,000 of the things.

Hey Gothy. If you find something that looks like this on the undercarriage of your car, please call your local FBI office.

SOURCE

The FBI Can’t Find Many of Its GPS Trackers Now That They’re Turned Off

The US Supreme Court had outlawed the warrantless use of GPS trackers so the FBI complied by shutting down all its devices but now is apparently having trouble actually retrieving the hardware. Because the GPS units are turned off. And the FBI has no idea where they are unless they're on.

The Court ruled in U.S. v. Jones that the Federal Bureau use of unwarranted vehicle-based GPS tracking units was illegal on the grounds that the practice violated the 4th Amendment—specifically that the act represented a search and constituted trespassing. The FBI complied and nixed its 3,000 currently active GPS tracking devices but that's where the problem lies.

Turns out the FBI can't locate the devices unless they're active. The Agency so determined to retrieve its toys that it has petitioned the court to briefly turn the devices back on for the sole purpose of finding and retrieving the hardware. I bet they wish they'd just bothered with those warrants now.

Either way, if you happen to have something that looks like this fall off your car, kindly contact your nearest FBI field office. [WSJ via Techdirt ]

 

[2minkey]

i don't understand why they would force deactivation of the devices. i thought we were evolving into a police state. seems counter-intuitive. where's ashcroft when we need him?

 

[Gonz]

He's bowing to Queen Reno

 

[jimpeel]

i don't understand why they would force deactivation of the devices. i thought we were evolving into a police state. seems counter-intuitive. where's ashcroft when we need him?

We still have the force of law. Once that is gone we are open to becoming a police state.

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it."
-- Frederic Bastiat