Student's Car Secretly Tracked For More Than 3 Months

Two days after Mission College student Yasir Afifi found a surveillance-tracking device on his car, the twenty year old Arab-American student was confronted by six FBI agents and police officers -- who asked for the pricey gadget back.

Wired.com reports that upon taking his car to a garage Afifi discovered the GPS tracker, which was attached to the car's chassis with a magnet. Later on, Afifi's friend Khaled posted photos of the device on reddit, where a reader identified it as an Orion Guardian ST820, which is made by a company that deals exclusively with law enforcement.

Although Afifi has never been affiliated with any type of questionable organization and is a U.S.-born citizen, he says he is on a federal watch list and is often taken aside at airports. His late father, Aladdin, was a prominent Muslim leader in Egypt, and Afifi annually visits his family there and embarks on frequent business trips to the Middle East.

The incident comes on the heels of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' recent reaffirmation of the government's right to secure GPS devices to vehicles without a warrant. FBI Special Agent Joseph Schadler told ABC News that "court decisions have consistently upheld that there is no warrant necessary for GPS tracking of a vehicle when the vehicle is in a public space."

ABC reports that Afifi's attorney, Zahra Billoo, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request so that she and Afifi can access any information the FBI has on him (even though the agents who spoke with Afifi told him he was "boring.")

In a statement to ABC, Billoo said:

He fits the profile, as a young Arab American male who travels frequently...Is it that you can just put [a tracking device] on any person's car and I would argue that is obviously an egregious violation of everybody's constitutional rights and should be challenged.

WATCH:

Comments

[All Americann]

06:01 PM on 10/30/2010

Pleasanton, CA Police Chief Michael Frazier has turned in his resignation papers on Oct. 27, 2010 Resigning Officially on November 13, 2010 Wow.... I didn't see that coming like a freight train in the distance.

Stay tuned..... Sustained Judicial complaints and indictments will follow.

[EndSeparateness]

11:42 AM on 10/17/2010

Look, the argument for allowing this type of surveillance based on that fact that once we leave our property we have no expectation of privacy is ridiculous. It's one thing to be caught by coincidence on someones video recorder or camera but it's another thing all together to actively take someones picture or video or voice without their consent. (I think paparazzi's should be in jail, yes.) To take this a step farther, If there is credible evidence that a person is breaking the law then by all means present this evidence to a judge and if it warranted have that person surveilled in whichever manner. But the Credible Evidence and this Judge need to have some oversight in my opinion. A panel of citizens from each state for example could do the trick. Voted in for 1 year terms might be a good place to start...Uncritical Trust of the System to work justly is foolish. Don't believe the Hype corruption in this country is Rampant.

[Processerver Yougotmail]

09:12 PM on 10/16/2010

B.D. EUBANKS WAS ARRESTED BY THE PLEASANTON POLICE DEPT. IN 2007 AND A GPS DEVISE WAS PLACED ON HIS CAR. THE P.P.D. THEN STOLE HIS CAR AND THEN JUNKED IT 3 DAYS BEFORE HIS PRE-TRIAL. WHY? BECAUSE THEY WERE WRONG IN GAINING ACCESS TO HIS CAR WITHOUT A WARRENT AND THE POLICE NEEDED TO COVER THE INCIDENT UP. AND THEY DID. EUBANKS NAME WAS REMOVED FROM HIS CAR WITH THE AID OF CRONYISM AND COLLUSION. JUDGE H. WALKER AND C. MORUZA NEVER INVESTIGATED THE MISCONDUCT OF THE PLEASANTON POLICE DEPT. OR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE. WHY?
BECAUSE WHAT LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE FBI CALL A SIMPLE CASSETTE TAPE PLAYER ISN'T WHAT IT TRUELY IS. IT'S MORE LIKE A STATE-OF-THE-ART MP3 PLAYER. CAPABLE OF NOT JUST GPS TRACKING, BUT BLUETOOTH INTERFACING WITH A BUG INSIDE OF THE CAR. THAT IS EVESDROPPING. EUBANKS SUED THE TOW COMPANY RESPONSIBLE FOR DESTROYING HIS CAR AND EVIDENCE; DONE BY THE REQUEST OF THE PLESANTON POLICE DEPT.. THAT LAWSUIT WAS WON BY EUBANKS. HERE'S A LINK TO THAT SUIT IN RICHMOND, CA.;
http://icms.cc-courts.org/tellme/tellme/tellmecasereport.asp?language=ENGLISH&courtcode=R&casenumber=RSC09-0671&casetype=RS
IF THE PLACEMENT OF THE GPS DEVISE WAS KOSHER AND THERE WAS NO MISCONDUCT ON BEHALF OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT INVOLVED, THEN YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF "WHY WAS ALL THE EVIDENCE AND GPS TRACKER INTEL THROW OUT BY JUDGE C. MORUZA?" WHY DID SHE SUPPRESS ALL THE EVIDENCE IN THE CASE?
.

[Leftshot]

08:14 PM on 10/16/2010

This 20 year old full time college student and part time computer salesman also seems to have enough money to support himself in Silicon Valley, pay for frequent trips to the Middle East AND provide financial support to his two teenage brothers who live in Egypt. REALLY??? What is he selling Crays?

[Leftshot]

07:34 PM on 10/16/2010

According to the Associated Press Oct. 16, 2010:

- Yasir Afifi is a a 20-year-old computer salesman and community college student

- FBI agents did go to Afifi’s Santa Clara apartment and demanded the return of their property — a global positioning system tracking device

- Afifi’s father was a well-known Islamic-American community leader who died last year in Egypt

- His attorney Zahra Biloo, stated Afifi has extensive ties to the Middle East, which include supporting two brothers who live in Egypt and making frequent overseas trips

How many 20 year olds do you know who have "extensive ties to the Middle East" and have the time and means to make "frequent overseas trips" to the Middle East while a full time student and employed?

Sound pretty suspicious, doesn't it?

[Sara L]

11:35 AM on 10/18/2010

Actually... I don't understand what you find suspicious at all.

- His age? His occupation? Both seem normal to me.

- The fact that the FBI wanted their device back is exactly what the article is about... if anything it makes me suspicious of the effectiveness of the FBI's Counter-terrorism division.

- That is father was Egyptian, or a community leader, or that he passed away?

- I'm not sure where you're reading that he's a full time student - but are you suspicious of his time management abilities? I would find it more suspicious if he was making frequent trips of any kind while he was unemployed. I think you'll find that many 2nd generation Americans who have family abroad stay in close contact with friends and family members who aren't in the US.

According to the IMF October 2010 World Economic Outlook - in 2008 the inflation adjusted GDP per capita in Egypt was $5,904 (in USD). In the U.S. it was $47,155. In other words, he wouldn't have to send much of his income to his brothers in order to have a substantial impact on their economic wellbeing.

I don't know many 20 year olds period. But I do know a substantial number of young professional Arab Americans with extensive ties to their countries of origins who frequently visit for both personal and professional reasons. Some of them are even taking classes part time!

[Megan Crawford]

10:58 AM on 12/05/2010

I appreciate your rationality

[Megan Crawford]

10:59 AM on 12/05/2010

I am not sure if you are bored or a troll- but i saw this same exact post on a separate forum. You should read sara l.'s breakdown.

[Vernie31]

12:05 PM on 10/13/2010

Welcome to the new America the land of the Frightful and Afraid. If the actions of 19 Thugs
could result in this type of A Paranoia, what would happen if it were a standing ARMY? or anything worst? The thought CHILLS me!

[Lisa Shields]

11:11 AM on 10/13/2010

Appalling...but expected.

I knew a father who gave his daughter a MAC card for school. What the girl didn't know is that Daddy used his banking software to track her daily. He would get alerts whenever she used it---and could even tell if she had friends over by the amount of snacks she purchased. He called it "being interested", Sounded like stalking to me. But he was busy patting himself on the back for clever. He never noticed that his daughter listed "Bondage" as an "Interest" in her Facebook account.

[senseandnonsense]

08:11 AM on 10/13/2010

I would've attached that bast ard to a subway train.

[Tom95134]

03:39 AM on 10/13/2010

It seems to me that if the government can attach one of these to a car without a warrant then the government is essentially abandoning the device and have no subsequent claim to the device. It's called, "Finders, Keepers!"

I think I would have made the government go to court and show proof of ownership to recover their "lost" property.

[senseandnonsense]

08:12 AM on 10/13/2010

Ollie's Outlet sell sledgehammers cheap!

[Forester]

02:22 AM on 10/13/2010

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it.
Now fear is here to stay. Love is here for a visit.
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit.
Someone's scratching at the window. I wonder who is it?

[mabinog]

10:57 PM on 10/12/2010

eh, corporations know as much or more about you than cops even though none of them have any right to the information.....and of course corps sell that information for their profit.

[imajoebob]

10:50 PM on 10/12/2010

Did he give it back? I hope not. I think he should sell it on ebay. At least that might mitigate the insult, if not the injury.

[joymij]

05:11 PM on 10/12/2010

So if I wanted to track an FBI agent I could right? I cant get in trouble for putting a GPS on a police officers vehicle to make sure he isnt leaving his jurisdiction? or are these just rights reserved for those who dont operate under every day law? like the FBI

[TeeSC]

07:16 PM on 10/12/2010

You got a point there... if THEY are allowed to do it, then THEY shouldn't be above the law themselves. I do hate those double standards!

[TeeSC]

03:34 PM on 10/12/2010

I understand why everyone feels the way they feel. I'm opposed to Big Brother too. But there is a part of me that says... what if one terrorist is caught before doing something heinous. Is it worth it? I have a Middle Eastern spouse and we are regularly profiled... me especially when I'm traveling alone. Personally, I have no problem with it. But where is the line drawn? This sucks for sure. But.

[MAJK]

03:44 PM on 10/12/2010

These things are done without warrants. That's the problem .

[TeeSC]

04:01 PM on 10/12/2010

But if they served a warrant on him, then he would know he was under surveillance. I don't know... it's pretty dicey. I can see both sides.

[silencedogooder]

03:49 PM on 10/12/2010

i don't mind the tracking device so much as they've identified him as "boring" and non-threatening, so why waste the money you know? or even worse what if this drives him to engage in a terrorist organization because of the way he's treated. i'm sorry that you get bothered by people though.

[TeeSC]

04:00 PM on 10/12/2010

Thanks silence. It doesn't really bother me at all. I understand it...might not like it but I understand and accept it. I can't imagine something like this driving someone to terrorism though. If it does, then he was predisposed to begin with.

[CommonTator]

02:51 PM on 10/12/2010

"court decisions have consistently upheld that there is no warrant necessary for GPS tracking of a vehicle when the vehicle is in a public space."
.

There is no non-public use of a vehicle that I can think of, outside of maybe inching back and forth in your own garage.

There's no need for a warrant to track every move you make in a vehicle, since vehicles move in the public square?

Why does that logic stop at cars?

Does this also mean that, if the tech for it was there, every step I take in the outside world can be recorded on video without a warrant, each and every time I step out of my home?

Does this also mean that, if the tech was there, they could do the same to every American in the country, 24/7?

This isn't protection. This is full spectrum dominance.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

01:29 AM on 10/13/2010

"There is no non-public use of a vehicle that I can think of, outside of maybe inching back and forth in your own garage."

Farm vehicles have no public use, nor do construction vehicles not registered for highway use. They do not have to pay fuel excise taxes either (well, they do pay it, but they can get a credit).

"Does this also mean that, if the tech for it was there, every step I take in the outside world can be recorded on video without a warrant, each and every time I step out of my home? "

I believe that courts have already ruled that one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place. But I could be wrong.

[kelib]

02:32 AM on 10/13/2010

What about lawnmowers? Now that's scary.