Illegal systems which jam GPS are widely used in the UK, and could cause accidents, according to a new study conducted in secret.
The Sentinel study, a£1.5m government project run by a consortium that includes the police and the National Physical Laboratory, found 60 violations in six months by monitoring just 20 roadside locations, according to a paper presented at the GNSS Vulnerability 2012: Present Danger, Future Threats conference held at the National Physical Laboratory yesterday.
Global Positioning System (GPS) is used by transport, military, and financial sectors for navigation and coordination. given this country’s reliance (some would say over-reliance) on GPS, disrupting the satellite signal could cause serious problems for airports, mobile phone networks and even the stock market. GPS uses signals from an array of satellites, by which receivers on the ground can determine their position via triangulation. Because GPS is nothing more than radio waves, these waves can be jammed, but most of the GPS-enabled devices we use are one-way receivers that cannot transmit on the frequency used by the GPS system.
Logistics and other companies often install GPS trackers which transmit their vehicles’ location, based on GPS data, so the company can follow the movements of its vehicles, and prevent use of company cars for personal purposes. Trackers are also used in vehicles carrying valuable loads. Expensive cars can be tagged with GPS trackers, to help locate them if they are stolen.
GPS jammers effectively allow tracked vehicles to get off the grid, while blocking the signal from other users, in a range from about 10 meters to 32 kilometers.
The Sentinel research project used a network of 20 roadside monitors to detect jammer use. In one location, the study recorded more than 60 GPS jamming incidents in six months, reports the BBC.
Today we not only use GPS to navigate in our cars but we also rely on signals from space as a timing indicator. It is used to synchronise a wide range of computer based systems, and even ensures accurate timing for some computerised stock market transactions.
Sentinel is a 24 month project which aims to establish the extent to which Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, including GPS, can be trusted by users on an everyday basis.
The Sentinel consortium, responsible for the project, is led by Chronos Technology – a specialist company in the field of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT). Other members of the consortium include Association of Chief Police Officers, General Lighthouse Authorities, National Physical Laboratory, University of Bath and vehicle security company Thatcham.
The £1.5m project replaces similar GAARDIAN program which ran from 2008 to 2011. The consortium enjoys complete government support, with the funds provided by the Technology Strategy Board (which, in turn, is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
But illegal GPS jammers are not the only focus of the study. Jamming can occur naturally due to extreme weather conditions or solar flares. Accidental jamming as a result of the nature of the GPS radio signal is also an issue. One of the aims of the project is to distinguish between different kinds of jamming. Knowing why it happens will be useful in preparing a response and contingency actions.
Despite being dangerous and illegal to use (but not own), GPS jammers are available to buy online at dedicated websites like www.jammer4u.co.uk, and a basic model costs just around £60.
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Jammers for car usage like this one are used by people to protect their privacy and not to harm vital infrastructures of the city. They have too small range of operation to interfere with GPS signals of ships or planes.
Not always the case: "An incident at US Newark airport is a good example of the current worry. In 2009, navigation aids at Newark airport began suffering brief reception breaks. Investigators from the US Federal Aviation Authority took several months to identify the issue. In the the end they tracked a driver who regularly passed on the New Jersey Turnpike - with a GPS jammer in his vehicle."
http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/02/22/gps-jammer-safety-worries-climb/
Rubbish, a GPS jammer will not protect your privacy in a public place, it wont stop you being tracked on UK motorways, the UK uses ANPR systems for tracking vehicles, which is optical and does not use GPS.
And if you noticed from the study above it's real easy to detect a jammers broadcast from a roadside receiver, tie that in with a cctv/anpr camera and they know who you are... how anonymous do you feel know?
Jammers are a real problem in the UK, they are mainly used by crooks who are stealing high value cars with trackers in them, and as a result putting up everyone's insurance.
Jammers only break installed tracking devices, installed by the owners who have the right to know where their vehicles are. Whether that is a delivery company checking their vehicles are not being abused or a sports car owner who wishes to not have his car stolen, GPS Jammers are wrong, illegal, and need to be heavily cracked down on.
why only workers being monitored and not the managers.
life hard as it is why should workers get STRESSED for driving 1 mph above speed limit.employ robots if you want this not human beings.
GPS jammers – nothing to hide? So just enjoy the benefits
Andrew Yeoman, Managing Director of Trimble UK writes in his recent blog:
The finding by the Sentinel study that drivers in the UK are illegally using GPS jammers to mask their whereabouts raises some interesting issues for those driving vehicles fitted with tracking devices.
Without doubt when in-vehicle technology was initially introduced it was received with suspicion by workers and trade unions alike, but gone are the days when the technology is simply used to ‘track and trace’ vehicles. The new generation of telematics technology offers huge benefits to both workers and businesses – the value comes from making the best use of what the technology is actually reporting and why.
The most obvious benefit to a worker who is out in the field – as opposed to be office-based – is safety. All businesses have a duty of care for the health and safety of their employees and for the majority of those who work in an office – this is a relatively straightforward responsibility. Managing individuals – and potentially tens of thousands of individuals – working out of offices, perhaps driving for a significant amount of their day and often working on their own becomes far more complicated.
Driver safety is a growing concern - more than half of the fleet managers we’ve surveyed across the UK fleet industry consider driver safety to be a priority and major challenge – and recent developments in telematics technology have allowed the management of this far more easily.
GPS and telematics technology can now easily monitor a worker’s location, status and driving behaviour as well as vehicle condition in real time meaning businesses can have real visibility in to those drivers or vehicles that may pose the biggest risk of accident or breakdown.
We have certainly seen a shift in the reasons why investment in this type technology is being made. More and more businesses want to try and bring ease and efficiency out in to the field and provide customers with a better understanding of arrival times and more accurate billing so there are benefits that hit the bottom line and go beyond just knowing where a vehicle is.
As with so many things, knowledge is key - and now with the recent leaps in telematics technology businesses and workers can benefit from improved efficiency, reduced costs, improved compliance and greatly enhanced safety.
This brings obvious benefits to the business, the customer and the worker/driver out in the field. There is nothing to hide or fear and everything to gain.
The question is; why would you want to jam the GPS signals? If you're not doing anything wrong then yu have no reason to worry.
It's true that, at the moment, we live in a country where few people except criminals have any reason to jam GPS signals.
The problem I have with this situation though, is that it's a very slippery slope.
The more we allow our public movements to be tracked, and the more control and oversight we grant the government and corporations, the harder it will become for the public at large if there should ever come a time when they want some of that power back.
people use jammers because of companies like mine..
they recenly installed gps black boxes in all our vans, and have set them to report back ALL and ANY speeding incidents, it even reports back if you are doing 31 in a 30, 41 in a 40 etc, and the company then invite you for 'informal' chats about your speeding and complacent attitude to safety... they have started a 100% zero tolerance policy against speeding...
i am thinking of getting one myself now I have read this article...
Sounds like you deserve to have more points on your licence, then you will loose your job, and your boss will say hey I told you so. Stop breaking the law, and there is no problem.
Personally I would sack you now for holding such an opinion, as a driver you MUST obey the law. If you hold such blatant contempt for the rules of the road I could not employ you as a driver, simple as that, end of.
It's time to grow up and drive properly, the road is not your own race track.
Just another case of an offender wishing to use a jammer to cover an offence.
There are some reasons why you would want to jam GPS signals.
1. If your a kid and you found this cool play toy on the net and you have access to daddy's credit card. Kids also do this with other "toys" such as laser pens when they try blinding aircraft pilots, both stupid and irresponsible, but then again they are kids and really it's the parents that should ensure their kids don't get hold of such devices.
2. If your driving a company van and the company are monitoring it to ensure you don't use it for personal use. Ok it is their van at the end of the day, but really if they're going to give you a van to use for company they should just let reasonable personal usage of the van go as a "perks of the job" type attitude. If it's a lease vehicle it really doesn't cost the company that much to allow that vehicle to be used sometimes for personal use, plus if they were to write this properly into the employees contract they could even use it as a business expense.
3. If you see a homing missile heading towards your house, you would need one of these to confuse the homing missile and send it somewhere else.
Ok so 2 out of the 3 points are possible, and if you find yourself in point 3 you know you must have annoyed some country real bad
When we trade our freedom for our security, we generally end up with neither. Big brother is watching you, 24/7
You've failed to consider people like myself - regular commuters who are fed up with inconsiderate selfish idiots who insist on having phone conversations at full volume on a packed train at rush hour, even in a quiet carriage.
Having done this every day for years, I was fed up with conversations consisting of "yeah yeah, innit, like, cos innit"...etc; if you try and ask them to be quiet you typically get a mouthful of abuse; this is a far less confrontational, and yet satisfying way to resolve the problem :)
I'm surprised you were so quick to label the culprits as lorry drivers and people who didn't want to be tracked (although in fairness I think those who are skiving or speeding deserve to be given a talking to if you abuse the speed limit - I don't agree that 31 in a 30 necessitates that, but persistantly driving outside the legal limits is unnecessary, especially when you're supposed to be doing it for a profession).
You've failed to consider people like myself - regular commuters who are fed up with inconsiderate selfish idiots who insist on having phone conversations at full volume on a packed train at rush hour, even in a quiet carriage.
Having done this every day for years, I was fed up with conversations consisting of "yeah yeah, innit, like, cos innit"...etc; if you try and ask them to be quiet you typically get a mouthful of abuse; this is a far less confrontational, and yet satisfying way to resolve the problem :)
I'm surprised you were so quick to label the culprits as lorry drivers and people who didn't want to be tracked (although in fairness I think those who are skiving or speeding deserve to be given a talking to if you abuse the speed limit - I don't agree that 31 in a 30 necessitates that, but persistantly driving outside the legal limits is unnecessary, especially when you're supposed to be doing it for a profession).
That must be a great feeling being able to jam noisy commuters on the phone.
Great idea ;-]
Sometimes I wonder who the inconsiderate selfish idiot is? If you want private transport stop using public transport.
Oh and feel free to speak to the train manager that is after all why they are there. (they're not just a guard anymore)
PS the article is about GPS (global positioning satelite) jammers not GSM Phone jammers.
I think this article is one sided. If someone trying to spy on you should you not be allowed to prevent that? Saying "if you are not doing anything wrong what are you worried about" is the most ridiclious thing i have heard.
Battery operated gps trackers and gsm phone taps are dirt cheap and easily available and it is not only goverments that use this but the criminal element in society.
If a thief/grifter notices you are rich and wants to rob you , they will place gps/ phone tracker on your car, monitor your travelling and conversations for week find out where you live, which jewellers/banks you go to etc
If you are a famous/well known person or beautiful women you do not want paparazzi or a physcotic perverts being able to track you
If you are a businessman and you wish to have confidential meetings , you may not want your competitors to know who or where you are meeting
And most of all if you are going to meet your girlfriend but your wife does not believe you and puts a gps tracker and phone tap on your car, you want to be able to find this out !
If you think these things don't happen you lead a sheltered life and I think if you view jamming is wrong you are person who has not got much, never been around large amounts of money or wealth and not much to loose ,the rest of us who have got something to protect will jam when necessary.
60 hits in a six month period you have to love statistics.This was no doubt the result of a detector on the route of one user on his way to the pub in the company van on a regular trip.
GPS systems are OK as long as the personnel who are using them are not using them to spy on employee's But saying this on the other hand When thhe Power that be start using this technology to entrap say Motorist then it is being used illegally I say & if anyone get's taken to Court who are trapped by this GPS technology to gain a conviction ; Should be thrown out by the judge & the user charged & fined for misuse........AlanG
Jammers are easily and fairly cheaply available online to jam any or all of GPS, GSM, 3G, and WI-FI. You can even get a quad jammer to jam the lot if you want. But these are low power devices which will effectively isolate your vehicle or train carriage or restaurant. If you want wider range, then its a big device and costs big bucks. These are used by security forces and army etc, to stop remote control of devices etc. Therefore small jammers endanger almost nobody. They do provide a way for people to re-gain a little of their privacy. Many companies think they own employees rather than hire them. Fortunately, for most uses of intrusive technology there is a technological response. This is the logical response to too much "Big Brother" society.
If statistics prove anything and statistics prove that they do, this example of 60 'hits' in six months could be the same person driving a regular route!