Thousands using GPS jammers on UK roads pose risks, say experts ...

By Charles Arthur | The Guardian

Popular legally purchased devices can block systems meant to track stolen cars or lorry and taxi drivers working long hours

A typical GPS jammer can create a 500-metre bubble around any vehicle. ?People are using these because they don?t want to be detected,? says one expert

Thousands of people in the UK are using ?GPS jammers? that plug into car cigarette lighters and can stop tracking systems used to detect stolen cars, monitor vehicle use or stop drivers working overlong hours, according to new findings from experts.

That could lead to the danger of overtired lorry drivers staying on the roads despite the presence of monitoring equipment, and could also pose a threat if vehicles equipped with the jammers were to go on to airport areas near aircraft which rely on GPS (global positioning system) for navigation.

Yet despite the risks posed by the devices ? which are sold over the internet ? it is not illegal to import, sell, buy or possess them. It is an offence only under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to ?knowingly use? such a device to block GPS signals ? though the communications regulator Ofcom is looking to close some of the loopholes.

The growing use of the devices could also torpedo any plans to introduce ?pay as you drive? insurance or road toll systems if the vehicle owner was able to block communications with monitoring systems.

?When people use these, it creates a bubble around their vehicle for about 500 metres that jams any GPS receiver or transmitter,? Prof Charles Curry of Chronos Technology told the Guardian. ?It stops any tracking system the owner might have put on the car. Usually they will block GSM [mobile phone] signals too that might also be used to send back a location.

?It means that for anyone trying to track the vehicle, it just vanishes off the map ? it?s as though it were in an underground car park,? Curry added.

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Source: http://www.setyoufreenews.com/2013/02/15/thousands-using-gps-jammers-on-uk-roads-pose-risks-say-experts/

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