NYU researchers developing technology to detect hidden GPS trackers

By Tim McNicholas. Walter Smith Randolph

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    NEW YORK CITY, New York (WCBS) — Many people use GPS every day, but in the wrong hands, it’s a terrifying tool that can help stalkers track their victims. It’s been difficult for victims to detect hidden trackers – until now.

CBS News New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas got a look at a promising development from New York University researchers.

How to know if there’s a GPS tracker on you:

Mo Satt, a researcher at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, says there are already ways to detect Bluetooth trackers like Apple AirTags, but solutions are few for GPS trackers.

“If a cyber stalker is looking to track someone, they’re not gonna use an AirTag because Apple and Samsung and Android have figured out a way to alert people,” he said.

So, Satt started using a device already on the market called a spectrum analyzer to track signals from nearby electronics. He realized, unlike phones and other devices, GPS trackers send out signals like clockwork to save battery, typically every minute on the dot while moving. That allows him to distinguish a GPS tracker from other devices.

Now, he and a team of researchers are working to develop a way for stalking victims to detect those same unique signals.

“They won’t have to be looking at spikes [on a spectrum analyzer], right? They’re just gonna have an app or something that will Bluetooth to their phone, that will talk to a device like this [spectrum analyzer] and say you, with a high degree of probability, you have a tracker with you,” Satt said.

Satt and his team are now trying to secure additional investors and support to turn their plans into reality. They’re presenting their findings this summer at a major cybersecurity conference, and victim advocates say their work, so far, sounds very promising.

Man fatally shot in Queens after gunman stuck GPS tracker on car:

Their research was inspired by tragedies like the death of Tyrone Jones, who was fatally shot inside his car in St. Albans, Queens. The vehicle was riddled with 11 bullets.

“There were so many spectators,” said Donaya McMillan, Jones’ cousin. “It was something that, to this day, I still have nightmares about. As much as I try to remember the beautiful, big smile he has, sometimes I also think about how he looked in that moment.”

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the shooter, Isaiah Stokes, was hellbent on revenge after Jones asked him to leave a party.

According to prosecutors, Stokes – a well-known actor who appeared on shows including “Law and Order,” “The Americans” and “Blue Bloods” – stuck a GPS tracker on the bottom of Jones’ car a week before the shooting. A judge sentenced Stokes to 25 years to life in prison for the murder in March.

McMillan thinks if the technology Satt and his team are developing had been available at the time, her cousin might still be alive.

“I think that he would’ve been able to identify that he was being tracked,” she said. “This could’ve been prevented.”

While an external GPS tracker was used in this case, many newer cars have tracking software built into the car. Unfortunately, people can be stalked even without someone sneaking a tracker into the car. CBS News New York has reported on stalking victims whose abusive exes still have access to the car’s system.

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