01.20.09
GPS Tracking of Internet Sex Offenders – Mapping Wireless Hotspots and Beyond
Dr. Frank Kardasz, January 20, 2009
Global positioning satellite (GPS) technology is commonly used to track offenders who are on probation or parole. Offenders wear battery powered ankle bracelets equipped with transmitters linked to cellular technology. The ankle bracelet transmitters report the person’s position on a map for the monitoring officer to see. The system helps officers track an offenders whereabouts.
GPS tracking technology has advanced to the extent that mapping markers can pinpoint the offender’s location and also mark surrounding locations that the offender may be prohibited from visiting. Prohibited locations for sex offenders might include grade schools, parks or places where children would logically congregate.
Some offenders’ terms of probation or parole include computer restrictions. Computer restrictions often prohibit or restrict the offender from visiting cyberspace. Computer restrictions are difficult for parole and probation officers to enforce. Computers are ubiquitous and found almost everywhere. Complicating matters is the fact that free wireless access is available in many locations.
How can mapping technology assist probation and parole officers charged with monitoring offenders who used computers and cyberspace to violate?
- Mapping markers might also be used to identify locations where unrestricted wireless Internet access “hotspots” are provided.
How can wireless hotspots be identified?
- A Google search for free wireless hotspots in Phoenix Arizona revealed several hyperlinks including the following: http://ilovefreewifi.com/phoenix/. The site lists dozens of locations that would be attractive places for sex offenders to visit and take advantage of unrestricted wireless Internet access. First on the list was the Phoenix Public Library.
- Net Stumbler is a popular freeware program that can be used to identify wireless hotspots. It detects wireless LANs that use the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. Other products perform similar duties. Alternatives to Net Stumbler include: MacStumbler, iStumbler, KisMAC, Kismet, Windows Vista netsh, Vistumbler, Inssider, and DISA Wireless Discovery Device (Flying Squirrel).
Perhaps the integration of mapping technology with GPS monitoring could identify wireless Internet hotspots and assist those who must monitor the offenders who have computer restrictions. The mapping software that shows the locations of schools might also be used to show the locations of wireless hotspots.
Beyond the mapping of wireless hotspots, what else might be done to monitor cyber sex offenders?
- Further future advancements in technology might include ankle bracelets that incorporate radio frequency identifiers that sense those radio frequencies common to wireless Internet channels and report those frequencies to the monitoring system.
Although it may be too restrictive to prohibit an offender from ever entering any area where a free unrestricted wireless radio frequency signal is available, simply collecting and preserving the data may be enough to assist investigators who are tasked with later follow up of ongoing offenses. For example, an investigator who is tracing the source of unlawful Internet trafficked images might be led to a particular Internet protocol address at a particular location. If the location is found to be a free wireless hotspot, it would be nice to know whether or not an ankle-bracelet monitored offender was also at the location during the offense.
Arizona law now includes a section requiring registered sex offenders to provide their e-mail and Internet protocol (IP) addresses to the state. While this is a positive step towards monitoring offenders, registering e-mail and IP addresses is not a foolproof way to track offenders. Further work is needed in the area of tracking and monitoring Internet sex offenders.
Conclusion
Monitoring the offenders who use cyberspace is a challenging task for probation and parole officers. GPS monitoring through ankle bracelets is becoming a popular technology for those who must track offenders.
Businesses that produce and market GPS monitoring systems should consider adding a mapping feature that pinpoints Internet wireless hotspots in order to assist officers who must monitor the activities of cyber offenders. Mapping wireless hotspots might help probation and parole officers know when cyber offenders are near locations where they might reoffend.
Future advancements in technology might include ankle bracelets that incorporate radio frequency identifiers that recognize those frequencies common to wireless Internet channels and report those frequencies to the monitoring system.
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