Court: It's OK to use GPS to track cheating spouse
Panel of judges in New Jersey rules that it is perfectly permissible for a wife to track a husband whom she suspects to be a cheater, with the help of GPS.
Your spouse has been working late in the office. You fear it might be the office cupboard.
Your spouse suddenly has a friend who needs a lot of comfort after a bereavement. You suspect the comfort might have slipped beyond the cuddle.
So, please, get yourself a GPS and track that spouse wherever he or she may roam.
This is not merely my suggestion for your peace of mind. It is that of a New Jersey court that decided that following your husband or wife is not an invasion of privacy. It's more of a loving gesture of concern. (Alright, I'm extrapolating a little with the last part.)
According to NJ.com, in 2007, sheriff's officer Kenneth Villanova sued a private investigator, Richard Leonard., who had been hired by the now former Mrs. Villanova.
Leonard, finding Villanova a little difficult to follow by the normal movie methods, reportedly suggested to Mrs. Villanova that she should slip a GPS device into the glove box of a GMC Yukon-Denali that both husband and wife used.
That glove box turned out to be a breaking-up-the-love box. For, a mere two weeks into the technological experiment, Villanova was reportedly espied with the proverbial other woman right there in his Yukon.
Naturally, Villanova sued for invasion of privacy and emotional distress. Surely the judges would see that his wife was, um, cheating. The appellate court noticed, though, that he didn't seem to seek counsel for his distress. There was not even an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
The three judges' logic, though, will cause many to consider the meaning of life and of Google Street View. They decreed that the GPS was not an invasion of privacy because it only tracked Villanova in publicly viewable locations, not in some recondite cupboard or well.
Let this, then, be a warning to all those who might be straying from their relationships in a desperate need to be, oh, understood. Check your glove compartment every day. Peek beneath your car, just in case someone might have secured a GPS there.
Big Brother might be working for the man or woman you married.