A few weeks ago, I rented a car and stayed there for a few days. It has a GPS navigation system, although I don't need it when driving, out of curiosity, I started using it to get used to its operation. Not long after, I began to notice the time when the system completely lost its GPS signal - usually on interstate highways. The observation concludes that they typically occur simultaneously with the passage of large commercial trucks or trucks.
I asked a friend from the local law enforcement community about this phenomenon. He attributed the problem to the GPS jammers. He said that many companies use GPS systems to track the location and movement of their vehicles. However, company drivers often oppose this and therefore use GPS jammers to disable such systems. In addition, it is well known that law enforcement agencies attach GPS tracking devices to vehicles in order to track them and/or establish records of driver movements (although according to recent Supreme Court rulings, this will be further restricted in the future) Criminals use GPS interference devices to thwart this effort. He believes that the "dead spots" in GPS navigation I encountered were caused by a vehicle carrying a GPS jammer driving several miles close to me.
Out of curiosity, I have conducted more research on this topic. As is well known, truck drivers and other drivers using GPS jammers can interfere with aircraft and airport navigation systems.
Military interference testing not only disrupts GPS signals, but also disrupts mobile phones, pagers, and other important commercial systems. In the UK (and probably in this country as well), organized criminals typically use GPS jammers when stealing or hijacking vehicles to thwart any tracking hardware or software that may be hidden in the vehicle. Prison inmates face huge security risks due to the proliferation of mobile phones. They use them to communicate with family and gang members, arrange drug transactions, plan to escape, and even organize "crackdowns" on criminal opponents or potential witnesses. For many years, there have been proposals to restrict (i.e. interfere with) or control the transmission of mobile phones inside and around prisons, but so far, this has been resisted by mobile service providers and the FCC (who have also strengthened law enforcement against illegal signal interference). Schools also hope to prevent students from using mobile phones in the classroom, and at least one school has successfully tested mobile phone interference devices.
I am surprised to see that although their sales (at least technically) are illegal, interfering devices can be obtained online for free. A company even blatantly advertised that you should purchase one of their signal jammers to ensure a night without a phone in the cinema! Obviously, the law has not kept up with the pace of this issue - and given that such products can be ordered from overseas suppliers, it may never be able to effectively control them.
I would like to know whether readers have encountered GPS or Mobile phone signal signal blockage in their daily life. If you have, please let us know in the comments.
