If you want to go off the radar and stay there, then a GPS jammer is your best bet. But there are a few things you need to know before you go out and purchase one. We will try to provide the most accurate information in this post so that you can pick the best one that meets your needs.
What is a GPS Jammer?
A GPS jammer or GPS blocker is a device that interrupts any communication between a Global Position System’s satellites orbiting in space and a receiver placed on Earth. A receiver can be a GPS tracker, a GPS-enabled smartphone, a satellite navigation system, etc. Well, you get the point.
GPS jamming is an intentional way of disrupting GPS signals by the use of a small gadget that can stop a GPS receiver from receiving the radio signals sent out by the 30+ satellites orbiting the Earth.
Depending on the output power of the GPS jamming device, GPS reception can be jammed from 10 meters up to several kilometers. This is due to the fact that GPS works from radio signals continuously transmitted by the satellites stationed in space thousands and thousands of miles away from the GPS receivers on Earth.
Plus, the power with which the signal is broadcast from the satellites cannot be boosted any further due to the limited power supply on satellites.
How Does a GPS Jammer Work?
GPS, acronym that stands for “Global Positioning System”, is a radio-navigation system developed by the U.S. Department of Defense and is currently managed by the U.S. Air Force. Even though it was originally developed exclusively for the military, it can now be used by civilians for everyday use.
GPS works thanks to radio signals from satellites. These satellites send out signals constantly and when you turn on location services on your smartphone or power on the satellite navigation system in your car, these devices pick up signals from four or more satellites to determine the location.
A GPS jammer is usually (not always) a tiny little device that can be plugged into your car’s 12V electrical socket, commonly known as “car cigarette lighter”. Once plugged in, it starts broadcasting some sort of noise on the same frequency as the GPS device, therefore, creating interference and preventing the GPS receiver from determining its accurate location.
As you can see, GPS jamming is achieved in the same way cell phone jamming is achieved: by transmitting a similar signal on the same frequency but at a higher output power, causing a disturbance in such a way that the receiver is unable to pick up the signal transmitted by the satellites (for GPS) and cell towers/sites (for cell phones).
But illegal tracking and stalking is a major issue. That’s when GPS jammers come in handy: to help you completely disappear for a little while, wherever you are!
Are GPS Jammers Illegal?
According to Federal Law in the United States, “the operation, marketing, or sale of any type of jamming equipment that interferes with authorized radio communications such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is strictly prohibited”.
Every time you turn it on, you could incur a $16,000 fine in the United States. As soon as you switch on the GPS blocker, it starts disrupting the Global Positioning System signals within dozens of meters, rendering your smartphone’s Apple Maps and Google Maps apps useless and disabling any tracking devices that someone might have surreptitiously installed on your vehicle to track or stalk you.
The use of a GPS jammer is also illegal in the UK, as well as in the US, as stated above, and most European countries. Jamming GPS signals can be potentially very dangerous in the wrong hands and place at the wrong time for other road users.
Bottom line is that GPS jammers are absolutely not legal. They are illegal according to Federal and State Laws around the world and carry heavy fines if you’re caught. If you’re caught violating the law, you face thousands of dollars in fines as well as imprisonment in some countries.
Even though jamming GPS may be illegal, whether it is unethical is definitely up for debate.
GPS Jamming Applications
There are so many disparate reasons you might want to use a GPS blocker. We’ll try to list the most common use cases based on the inquiries we received from clients and potential customers over the last 8 years we have been in business.
Against Illegal Government Tracking
Let’s not kid ourselves. The Government tracks us constantly. Deep down, we are aware of that but there are no ways to prove it. It is a breach of our own privacy. Plus, there are ethical and legal issues at stake here since gaining access to this kind of data can reveal so many intimate details about our private life than we might initially think.
By tapping into our phones and their location, the Government can learn our behavior including clues to our social networks, sexual relationships, political activity, religious convictions, and physical movements over previous hours, days, months, and even years.
A recent example of this is the Coronavirus and the privacy concerns surrounding the tracking of infected people and their whereabouts so that others can be alerted so as to avoid getting in contact with the former group.
As much as this might sound a commendable effort to fight the spreading of the Coronavirus outbreak, we all know that the information gathered can and will be used against us at a later stage when all of this is over.
That’s where a GPS jammer can be helpful. A portable jammer will always come in useful when you suspect that there is illegal tracking being carried out against you from Government officials.
Against Your Spouse Installing a GPS Tracking App On Your Phone
This is a major issue that is a cause for concern for a lot of our clients. Infidelity is the number one reason for divorce in every country. When doubts about our spouses’ loyalty start running in our minds, we resort to technology to spy on them. It’s basic human nature.
Technology has helped us exponentially in this cause. So, beware of any mobile application that you don’t remember downloading or recognize because that might be the software that allows your other half to track your every move.
If you’re cheating on your spouse, maybe you brought this upon yourself. Nevertheless, by placing a GPS bug or installing spy software on your smartphone your spouse is committing a crime. If you have no ways to prove it, then you might want to buy a GPS jammer and fire that bad boy up whenever you leave the house to leave her clueless.
Against Employers Tracking Their Employees
The rise in the use of GPS has made spying and stalking others easier than ever. It has also allowed employers to have unprecedented access to their employees’ positions, at any given time. But this is not always legal.
There are only a handful of circumstances where tracking an employee is legal. For many years, the only expedient for an employer to track an employee’s location was by installing a GPS tracker in the employee’s company car which the employee uses for his personal and business travel.
However, with the advent of smartphones, employers are able to track locations through GPS apps in employees’ smartphones. When your company takes it to the next level and violates your Fourth Amendment rights, you have to take matters into your own hands. That is why we recommend opting for a GPS jammer for sale that is discreet but effective at the same time.
Against Car Insurance Tracking Devices
We should always have concerns about our privacy and how our data is handled and who has access to it. It’s a serious issue that should not be taken lightly.
You should be even more worried when that someone, collecting your data, is your insurance company. The main problem with this is that, whether or not you will actually receive a discount from a GPS tracker or app installed in your vehicle, in case you are involved in an accident, be sure that your insurance company will gather the collected data to assign fault to you and make your insurance premium go up.
Among the tons of data that these trackers gather, there are how quickly you accelerate, how fast you go, how quickly you brake, how many miles you drive, the places you drive to, your location history, etc. In the wrong hands, that kind of data can have great consequences. So, going for a GPS jammer wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Interesting Facts About GPS Jammers
There are some interesting facts about GPS jamming that not many people know about and we feel like it is our duty to elucidate on the matter so as to prevent people from spreading misinformation.
You Only Need To Block GPS Signal To Jam a Tracker
This is totally untrue. Tons of people firmly believe that GPS trackers only make use of GPS signals to allow tracking when, in reality, most NavSat systems and GPS tracking devices also come equipped with Sim cards to allow cell phone triangulation (when GPS signal is unavailable) or send back the gathered information to a monitoring station.
Modern-day tracking devices need at least three satellite signals to get the position. When the tracker is turned on, if it is in an open area, it will always be ready to pinpoint the location.
So if we want to know the live coordinates of the tracker, we need a SIM card connected to a network operator inside the tracker itself. The tracker will use the cellular networks to send the location to a cell phone by SMS text message or send the location data to a server so that you can use an app, a fleet management system, or a web-based tracking platform to broadcast the live location on the map.
Therefore, it is crucial to know that you need a portable jammer to disrupt GPS L1 signal as well as GSM, 3G, and 4G signals.
GPS Jammers Were Initially Developed For The Army
They were originally created by the government and designed for military endeavors in which concealing vehicle location was crucial to the success of a mission. A jammer acts as a “cloak” giving the military privacy, increased safety, and an overall advantage in high-risk situations.
In fact, during the Second Gulf War, Iraq purchased a number of GPS jammers from a Russian company that was hawking GPS jammers at a military defense fair.
The Iraqi military used at least six of these high-powered GPS jammers, which cost $40,000 or more each, during the war. All six were quickly eliminated by U.S. forces over the course of two nights.
GPS is a very weak signal that can be jammed for a radius of several miles with a medium-powered jammer. Given the nature of GPS and its vulnerability, its use in military expeditions is limitless.
That's why the US military is working on launching 20 new GPS satellites in the coming years. These new satellites would transmit a GPS signal eight times stronger than the current signal, which means that any potential jammers would have to increase in size and complexity.
Criminals Use GPS Jamming Devices Too
You guessed it. GPS blockers are cheap and easy to find on the internet. It’s no surprise that criminals use them to conceal their identity and location during thefts.
Relatively low-powered GPS jammers available online will disrupt GPS in a radius much greater than just your vehicle – and their signal will jam much more than just satellite navigation systems.
Even criminal gangs are using them as they work over tens of kilometres. So, drug gangs or cartels might use them to disrupt navigation if they were taking a delivery and didn't want rivals to be able to locate them.
They are even being used by criminal gangs to help them steal expensive cars and lorries carrying valuable loads. This means that, in case a GPS jammer were to be used, a tracker built into an armoured van or an armoured truck with an anti-theft GPS device would not be able to report its position if stolen or hijacked.
Employees Use a GPS Jammer To Avoid Being Tracked Via Fleet Management Systems
The main problem with GPS tracking devices is that most people see them as an invasion of their privacy. Commercial drivers have no intention of sacrificing their own privacy for the sake of their bosses’ need to keep things under control.
Vehicle tracking systems allow fleet managers to monitor their employees’ performances more effectively, to ensure that they’re driving safely and within the limits of the law, to help them with effective route planning, and ensure they work a safe number of hours. But there is a fine line between violating your employees’ privacy and your need to make sure everything is in order.
Some truck drivers use GPS jamming devices to cover their tracks and some other employees use their company-owned vehicle to run personal errands. To avoid being detected, they operate a Global Positioning System scrambler unaware of the fact that by trying to jam a GPS tracker by using a scrambler, the vehicle will not disappear at all; it will still appear on the live map as a missing trip.
Also, when you plug the jammer in a cigarette lighter socket during a trip, you will see a line from when the jamming started, as if there was a missing trip. Thus, attracting more eyes to yourself from whomever is tracking you.
Conclusion
Using a GPS jammer can have serious repercussions in the wrong hands. No wonder they are illegal. But, used with a little consideration and in the right place at the right time, they can be your ally, especially when the purpose you are using them for is to escape corporate espionage, stalking, or to prevent anyone unauthorized from tracking your position.
We must keep in mind that these gadgets interfere with critical communication systems related to public safety. Hence, it is our responsibility to make a more conscientious use of these devices, without inconveniencing other fellow road users.
The rise in the use of GPS and electronic tracking technologies raises many privacy, ethical, and legal questions. The simplest answer against them is and will always be a GPS jammer.