GPS devices allow instant locating of the latitude and longitude of whomever or whatever bears the device. These can be life-saving as when used to locate persons lost in the wilderness. However, another use that has become somewhat controversial is the use of GPS vehicle tracking. The advantages for deterring car theft are obvious and popular. However, companies globally are using this technology to track their company vehicles. Some think this is a wonderful tool for companies to control costs–others have a less favorable opinion of tracking where employees drive.
Employers can use GPS tracking to protect their valuable vehicles from theft, but many are also using this device to deter excessive mileage of vehicles and their use by employees for reasons other than doing their jobs. This usage deeply disturbed some employees, who felt they were being spied on and that such tracking violated their privacy and prevented them from driving around normally, for fear the tracking device could imply something adverse out of an innocent situation. They felt this was a poor way for a company to show respect and trust for their employees.
However, companies have embraced GPS vehicle tracking because it has been a great cost-saver, reducing misuse of company vehicles, more productivity on the job and fewer traffic accidents as employees stay focused on getting to each job rather than allowing themselves to become distracted or delay going to a job. The savings can run into the thousands for smaller companies and even millions for big ones, as more efficient employee usage of their working hours, lower vehicle maintenance costs and lower insurance premiums add up.
The ubiquity of GPS technology made it inevitable that individuals would use it for personal reasons and that those personal reasons could end up becoming crimes. One early case involved a man who used a GPS device to track his spouse’s every move. He was able to track her whereabouts and determine that she was actually seeing another man. When his GPS tracking device helped him establish this, the enraged husband murdered his wife and the man she was seeing. The murder victim’s families tried to place some of the blame on the creation of GPS technology and sued the makers. The lawsuit failed, but it raised a heated debate everywhere about the privacy issues and potential misuses of this technology, and what restrictions should be put on its use.
Currently almost all-more than 90 percent-of car rental companies use GPS vehicle tracking to reduce car theft, with outstanding results–their theft problem has virtually disappeared. Some rental companies use devices sophisticated enough to tell the company if the car was driven outside approved areas–such as into another country–or if the driver misused it by speeding constantly.
Another usage that is popular with companies and consumers is the GPS device’s ability to track shipments on vehicles. Companies and consumers can determine the exact location of the vehicle containing their product at any time. No one objects to these kinds of wonderful, constructive uses of GPS vehicle tracking.
To get more information go to GPS Vehicle Tracking Review.
