US /
FBI

FBI Caught Spying on US Student

... And agents demand their GPS tracking device back
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Suggested by John_Feeney
Posted Oct 8, 2010 3:51 PM CDT
Caught Spying, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back
A file photo of an FBI agent.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Funny what a routine oil change can turn up: In the case of a 20-year-old college student in California, it was a GPS tracking device belonging to the FBI. It seems agents had been tracking Yasir Afifi for a few months, and when a friend posted photos of the device online, agents showed up at Afifi's door to get their toy back, reports Wired.
“It seems very frightening that the FBI have placed a surveillance-tracking device on the car of a 20-year-old American citizen who has done nothing more than being half-Egyptian,” says an ACLU lawyer.

Afifi, a US-born citizen, says he has no idea why he attracted the agency's interest. The agents who confronted him knew many details about his private life, including the restaurants he visited with his girlfriend. A federal appellate court recently declared it legal for authorities to place such tracking devices on the cars of private citizens, and the ACLU may use Afifi's case to challenge the ruling.
(More FBI stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X