High-risk Colombians say GPS devices only add to dangers

Yepes, a leading human rights activist, points to a part of his government assigned vehicle where he found hidden cellphone circuitry, in Bogota, Colombia. Yepes said he also found a GPS tracker after a random caller dialled the wrong number, mistakenly causing the SUV’s dashboard to ring. — AP

The bulletproof vehicles that Colombia’s government assigns to hundreds of high-risk individuals are supposed to make them safer. But when an investigative reporter discovered they all had GPS trackers, she only felt more vulnerable – and outraged.

No one had informed Claudia Julieta Duque – or apparently any of the 3,700-plus journalists, rights activists and labour and indigenous leaders who use the vehicles – that the devices were keeping constant tabs on their whereabouts. In Duque’s case, it happened as often as every 30 seconds. The system could also remotely cut off the SUV’s engine.