How Your Car's GPS System Might Make you a Crime Victim

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have become so popular as a means of navigating while driving, but like most things, there are pros and cons to having one.

There are basically two types of GPS used in cars and other vehicles: The portable system that attaches to the inside of the windshield with a rubber suction cup, and plugs into the cigarette lighter, and the built-in system that comes with the vehicle from the factory.

Security conscious drivers remove the portable system from it's suction cup windshield mount when they leave the vehicle and either take it with them or hide it somewhere in the car. Unfortunately, thieves look for that tell-tale ring left on the inside of the windshield by the suction cup, and often break into the vehicle, expecting to find the GPS unit stuffed under the front seat. This happened to a couple of friends of mine in Austin, Texas a few weeks ago. The cost: replacement of one broken side window and a GPS unit. So, the lesson learned here is to regularly clean the ring left by the suction cup off the inside of the windshield.

Car owners with an installed GPS system should be aware that all the information in that system: owner's name, home address, bank, friends names and addresses, etc. stays with the vehicle when it is sold. Car dealers are under no obligation to delete that personal information before selling the car. Since identity theft is so comonplace, it pays to remember to delete all information from the GPS before selling the car. I'd even go one further and say only input the minimum amount of information necessary, because you never know who else might access it: car thief, valet parking attendant, mechanic, etc.