- It would be a scary thought, especially when you think about what happened to Jackie Wisniewski, an Erie County resident who discovered a GPS device on her car in 2012, placed there by an ex-boyfriend to keep tabs on her.
- Police reports have found this kind of tracking in Georgia, but nothing yet in Western New York; however, the existence of this threat is still very real, and it’s good to be aware of the signs that you’re being tracked and what you can do if it happens here.
- This qualifies as a misdemeanour with penalties of up to three months in jail and $500 in fines.
Would you be concerned to learn that you may be monitored and that the cops wouldn’t be able to do anything about it? A very terrifying incident was shared by a woman as reported by WYRK.
Tracking
It’s a frightening concept, especially when you consider what happened to Jackie Wisniewski, an Erie County resident who discovered a GPS tracker on her car in 2012, installed by an ex-boyfriend to keep track of her. When she reported it to the police after the tracker was removed, she was told that the authorities couldn’t do anything because it wasn’t technically a crime.
That ex-boyfriend later murdered Jackie Wisniewski.
That was in 2012, but we’re almost at 2022, and AirTags are now being used to track people.
AirTags are intended to assist you to locate a lost item, but some people have begun to use them to track people without their knowledge.
The existence of this threat is still very real, and it’s good to be aware of the signs that you’re being tracked and what you can do if it happens here. Police reports have found this kind of tracking in Georgia, but nothing yet in Western New York; however, the existence of this threat is still very real, and it’s good to be aware of the signs that you’re being tracked and what you can do if it happens here.
What Happens?
One woman who was being tracked via an Apple AirTag received a notification on her iPhone that an unknown accessory was travelling with her. Another woman, former Buffalo TV reporter Madison Carter, received a notification after stopping at a gas station, which said, “Unknown Accessory Detected Near You.” This is real and very scary.
Carter couldn’t find the tracker when she searched her car, but there is an option to disable the tracker from your phone.
After notifying the local authorities in Georgia where the first few instances of tracking have occurred, and while police have tried to help however they can, the technology is so new that the authorities are generally unsure how to handle the new development.
Luckily, there is something that can be done in Western New York should you find that you are being tracked.
What Can Be Done?
If you notice you are being tracked, you should contact the police. While the technology may be new and unfamiliar to most, there is at least a law that prevents this kind of tracking in Western New York and throughout New York state.
Thanks to the efforts from the Wisniewski family after Jackie’s heartbreaking murder, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Jackie’s Law into effect in 2014. In the law, it added the use of GPS devices to track another person onto the list of actions considered as fourth-degree stalking. This qualifies as a misdemeanour with penalties of up to three months in jail and $500 in fines.
However, placing a tracking device is still legal in New York. After you find a tracking device on your vehicle, you must make it clear that the actions are not approved, and then you must come forward to prove that the stalker continued to use the tracking device, despite never receiving permission to do so.
Always be on your toes, and stay safe, WNY.
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Source: WYRK
