New technologies will become more of a tool for law enforcement as government catches up to the technological curve and questions about how and when it is appropriate for law enforcement agencies to use these tools will likely arise.

Before Scott Peterson was charged with the murders of his wife and their unborn son, police put a tail on him — a GPS device to track his whereabouts.

During the surveillance, Peterson allegedly traveled twice to where the victims’ bodies were later found. The information gathered from the GPS tracking may be presented to a jury as part of the case. But first, a judge will decide whether that information is admissible, and whether the technology is reliable.

The technique has been used before. In Washington state, police placed a device on the car of a man accused of killing his daughter. The suspect, unknowingly, led them to the victim’s grave, and was convicted of the murder.

The defense sought to have the case thrown out — claiming the premise on which police were granted the warrant to use the GPS device was flimsy. The prosecution argued two things: One, police didn’t need a warrant in the first place, and two, they could have obtained a conviction even without the evidence gained with the GPS technology.

The case went to Washington’s Supreme Court, which ruled that police did need a warrant to attach such a device and that the warrant was correctly issued in the case. The case is considered precedent-setting in extending rights to suspects. In previous cases involving conventional means of surveillance, such as with a vehicle or binoculars, courts have ruled there were no rights of privacy.

The Washington case differentiates between those methods and the placing of a GPS device.

What weighted heavily on the judge’s decision was that the use of GPS tracking devices is a particularly intrusive method of surveillance.

3G location technology will probably emerge as a law enforcement tool as well.

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act already requires carriers to implement electronic interception capabilities in their networks to provide law enforcement with wiretaps and information about calls from mobile devices.

If law enforcement agencies want to use wiretaps, they are obligated to get a court order.

As 3G location technology increasingly finds its way into mobile phones, the days of the triangulation technology that tracks general location by cell towers may be numbered, and individual users’ privacy will have to be addressed.

Of course, privacy questions have to be considered, and it is hoped that users will be able to maintain control over his/her location and push a button on the phone that says, ‘Don’t tell anyone my location now.'”

More details in Government Technology.