According to a report on c-net.com, law enforcement is able to secretly attach hidden GPS recorders to your car without your knowledge or a court order. That's right, they are able to record where you go and when, down to what, 9 feet accuracy these days? And most importantly, that is without a court order, so in other words, they can do it "just to see what we can find out".
...the officers did not pry into a hidden or enclosed area...
According to the reporter /researcher declan.mccullagh@cnet.com, prior court rulings (1,2 cited) have determined that the undercarriage of your car is not a "hidden or enclosed area" and therefore investigators (or others?) can put a tracking device there without it being a privacy invasion. That time there was a warrant obtained (the police had to get a judge's permission before placing the tracking device, and the judge would have required them to show some reasonable suspicion that you were involved in a crime). This time, it is ruled to be permissable even without a search warrant. Not this time.
The Times Union also reported:
In a decision that could dramatically affect criminal investigations nationwide, a federal judge has ruled police didn't need a warrant when they attached a satellite tracking device to the underbelly of a car being driven by a suspected Hells Angels operative.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd clears the way for a federal trial scheduled to begin next month in Utica in which seven alleged Hells Angels members and associates, including several from the Capital Region, face drug-trafficking charges.
According to reports, the judge ruled that:
"While the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures...it doesn't apply where there is no legitimate expectation of privacy... and Moran had no expectation of privacy in the whereabouts of his vehicle on a public roadway."
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