§ 3.1.13 Transmitters, Beepers (Tracking Devices) and GPS on Vehicles, Boats and Airplanes
The defendant had no expectation of privacy to challenge the agents’ placing of a transmitter on a boat to determine the boat’s location on the high seas. United States v. Juda, 46 F.3d 961, 968 (9th Cir. 1995) (no privacy right in one’s location on the high seas). The Fourth Amendment does not apply to use of a transmitter or beeper to locate a vehicle on public roads. United States v. Knotts, 460 U.S. 276, 284-85 (1983); but see Jones, infra (different rule for GPS device). There is no privacy right in the location of aircraft in public airspace. United States v. Butts, 729 F.2d 1514, 1517 (5th Cir. 1984).
A warrant is required before agents may attach a beeper to a container and monitor it to determine when contraband is taken into a residence. United States v. Karo, 468 U.S. 705, 719 (1984).
“The Government’s installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search’” within the meaning of the Fourth...
