Spy technology is a highly lucrative industry, with a wide range of tech gadgets developed by companies in order to meet diverse tracking needs. Earlier the ambit of these technologies were limited to the usage of law enforcement and other government agencies but the recent proliferation of these devices into the commercial market means that the industry has grown multiple fold.With security becoming a major concern both for individuals as well as organizations, these spy devices have seen the demand grow to stratospheric levels, in the process making the technologies available and accessible.

Spy devices are of two types – Historical and real time. Historical devices 'record' and allow you to download the information at a later time, whereas Real time devices offer continuous feed round the clock.

Keeping these recent developments in mind, companies have started manufacturing technologies easy to use for the common consumer. As a result, numerous spying solutions are available in the market. There is the hidden spy camera, the motion sensor, the voice pens, cell phone recon software… the options are endless. Many of them fulfill the need to record or gather information regarding the subjects, but GPS tracking is the crown jewel of spy technologies, enabling users to understand the movements of their subjects and track them down accurately as and when required. Why is GPS tracking so important to the spy industry? Let us look at the advantages it offers –

• For the spy industry, size and portability of any real time spy device is very crucial. The fact that GPS tracking devices are tiny and easily portable means that it fits the bill well. There are devices that are so lightweight and small that they can be sewn into the clothing material or hidden between papers in a glovebox and can be tracked remotely.
• Spy trackers can be easy to follow, given that the locational data from those devices can be mapped in a variety of platforms such as an application on a web portal or an application on a smartphone or through a dedicated handheld device.
• Spy trackers can be employed in a multitude of fields such as regulating traffic and catching driving offences through black box car cameras, home safety through hidden cameras and nanny cameras, vehicle spy cameras for better fleet management, hidden cameras to monitor employee productivity at the workplace, all equipped with GPS capability to remotely receive information.
• Computer spy trackers gives you complete control over your family’s browsing history making it an efficient tool to prevent your child from misusing the Internet. If used at the workplace, GPS spy trackers send immediate alerts if an unauthorized login is detected on your computer system.
• Vehicle spy cameras protect your vehicle from theft or simply allow you to monitor the driving habits of your new teen drivers.
• GPS devices are exceedingly accurate, and can be used even in areas without cellular coverage outside the cities, which makes them very convenient to use as spy solutions

The Challenges

• There is always the risk of certain individuals or organizations misusing the technology for selfish gains by infringing on individual privacies. There are numerous cases of individuals being tracked unknowingly or against their will, resulting in gross losses of privacy.
• Since GPS spy solutions are meant to be non-intrusive, inconspicuous and extremely accurate, the costs associated with them are also quite high. The smaller they come, the more expensive they get. Most spy trackers range from $100 to anything up to a thousand and up.

The Solution

• Misusing this technology is one of the challenges of making such technology commercially available, but there isn't much that can be done except introduce legislation to combat and punish such transgressions.
• Again, do a cost VS benefit analysis. Sometimes there is a bulkier alternative to a smaller device which will serve the same function, perhaps in a less aesthetic manner. Evaluate device necessity, effectiveness and return on investment before you make an expensive purchase.