GPS Tracking Device Legal Support
Legal Help & Advocacy
Holding Manufacturers Liable for Enabling Stalking and Violence
Get a free case review
Were you or a loved one harmed after being tracked with a covert GPS device? Contact us now for a free case review. We hold manufacturers accountable for enabling stalkers.
GPS tracking device manufacturers market their products as covert surveillance tools, explicitly designed to be hidden and used without the target’s knowledge. When used as intended, these devices enable stalking, domestic violence, and other criminal behavior that can escalate to serious harm or death. Victims and families have legal rights to hold these manufacturers accountable for creating and promoting products that facilitate illegal surveillance and endanger public safety.
Did you know? Many GPS tracking devices are explicitly marketed with phrases like “covert tracking,” “undetectable monitoring,” and “secret surveillance,” demonstrating that manufacturers know their primary use is illegal stalking and harassment.
Manufacturer Liability for Covert GPS Tracking Devices
GPS tracking device manufacturers create products specifically designed to enable illegal surveillance by marketing them as covert, undetectable tools for secretly monitoring people without their knowledge. These companies profit from products whose primary intended use violates federal privacy laws and enables stalking, domestic violence, and harassment.
Manufacturer liability arises when companies design, market, and sell tracking devices knowing they will primarily be used for illegal purposes. Unlike legitimate vehicle tracking for fleet management or child safety devices with proper consent mechanisms, covert tracking devices are engineered specifically to circumvent detection and enable secret surveillance.
These manufacturers often provide detailed instructions on how to hide devices, boast about their undetectable nature, and market directly to individuals seeking to secretly monitor others, creating a clear pattern of enabling and facilitating illegal activity that can escalate to violence.
Common Scenarios & Case Types
Domestic Violence Escalation
Stalkers using covertly marketed GPS devices to track victims’ movements, leading to increased harassment, threats, and violence when abusers can predict victims’ locations and routines.
Murder and Assault Cases
Tragic situations where GPS tracking enables perpetrators to locate and attack victims, including cases where tracking data directly facilitates deadly violence against women and children.
Stalking-Related Injuries
Physical and psychological harm to victims who are secretly tracked and harassed by former partners, acquaintances, or strangers using devices marketed for covert surveillance.
Corporate Surveillance Harm
Employees harmed when competitors or former employers use covert tracking devices to steal trade secrets, monitor personal activities, or engage in corporate espionage that damages careers and safety.
Child Abduction Cases
Situations where non-custodial parents or other individuals use covert tracking devices to locate and unlawfully take children, facilitated by manufacturers who market devices for secret monitoring.
Privacy Violation Damages
Victims who suffer severe emotional distress, anxiety, and life disruption from discovering they’ve been secretly tracked using devices specifically designed to be undetectable.
Types of Injuries & Damages
Victims of manufacturer-enabled tracking often suffer severe physical injuries when stalkers use location data to attack, assault, or kill their targets. The covert nature of these devices allows predators to establish patterns and find victims at vulnerable moments.
The psychological trauma includes severe anxiety from knowing movements were secretly monitored, post-traumatic stress from stalking and harassment, fear of continued surveillance even after devices are discovered, and depression from the violation of privacy and autonomy.
Economic losses encompass medical treatment for physical and psychological injuries, security measures and relocation costs to escape harassment, lost wages from missed work due to trauma or court proceedings, and in wrongful death cases, funeral expenses and loss of financial support for families.
Proving Your Case Against Manufacturers
GPS tracking manufacturer cases require demonstrating that companies specifically designed and marketed products to enable illegal surveillance. Evidence includes marketing materials emphasizing covert use, product features designed to avoid detection, and sales data showing primary customer base consists of individuals seeking secret surveillance tools.
Expert analysis of product design reveals how manufacturers engineer devices specifically for hiding and avoiding detection, create accompanying materials instructing users how to secretly install devices, and provide customer support that assists in covert surveillance activities.
Documentation of the manufacturer’s knowledge of illegal use includes customer reviews describing stalking activities, law enforcement reports linking their products to crimes, and company responses that demonstrate awareness their products primarily facilitate illegal surveillance.
Manufacturer Responsibilities & Legal Duties
GPS tracking device manufacturers have legal duties to design products that don’t primarily facilitate illegal activity, provide adequate warnings about legal restrictions on surveillance, implement safeguards to prevent misuse, and refuse to market products specifically for covert surveillance purposes.
Companies must not design products whose primary intended use violates federal and state privacy laws, market devices with explicit emphasis on avoiding detection and enabling secret surveillance, provide instructions specifically for hiding devices from targets, or ignore clear evidence that their products primarily enable stalking and harassment.
Manufacturers should implement user verification systems, require consent mechanisms for tracking, provide clear legal guidance about authorized use, and cooperate with law enforcement when their products are linked to criminal activity.
Your Legal Rights & Options
Cases against GPS tracking manufacturers are typically filed under product liability theories including negligent design for creating products primarily used for illegal purposes, marketing defects for promoting illegal surveillance, and failure to warn about the criminal nature of covert tracking.
Most states provide several years from the discovery of harm or the tracking activity to file lawsuits against manufacturers. In wrongful death cases, families typically have two to three years from the date of death to pursue claims.
Compensation in manufacturer liability cases may include medical expenses for treating physical and psychological injuries, costs of security measures and relocation, lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering from trauma and fear, and in cases involving particularly egregious marketing practices, punitive damages to deter similar conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can manufacturers be held responsible for how their products are used?
When companies specifically design and market products to enable illegal activity, they become liable for the foreseeable consequences. GPS tracking manufacturers that promote covert surveillance know their products will primarily be used for stalking and harassment.
What makes these devices different from legitimate tracking products?
Legitimate tracking involves consent and transparency, while covert devices are specifically designed to be hidden and undetectable. Manufacturers market these products explicitly for secret surveillance, not legitimate tracking purposes.
Can I sue the manufacturer even if the stalker was criminally prosecuted?
Yes, criminal prosecution of the stalker and civil lawsuits against manufacturers are separate legal proceedings. You can pursue both the individual who used the device and the company that enabled the illegal surveillance.
What if the manufacturer claims their product has legitimate uses?
While some tracking devices have legitimate applications, companies that specifically market products for covert surveillance and provide instructions for hiding devices demonstrate intent to facilitate illegal activity, regardless of potential legitimate uses.
How do you prove the manufacturer knew their product would be used illegally?
Marketing materials emphasizing secrecy, customer reviews describing stalking activities, product design features specifically for avoiding detection, and company responses to law enforcement all demonstrate manufacturer knowledge of illegal use.
What damages can families recover in cases where tracking led to murder?
Wrongful death cases against manufacturers can include funeral expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and punitive damages. These cases also help prevent future tragedies by holding manufacturers accountable for enabling violence.
Why Choose Donlon Brand for Your GPS Tracking Manufacturer Case
Our attorneys have pioneered litigation against GPS tracking device manufacturers, successfully holding these companies accountable for enabling stalking and violence. We understand the unique legal theories needed to prove manufacturer liability for products designed to facilitate illegal surveillance.
We have achieved significant settlements and verdicts against tracking device manufacturers, including cases involving domestic violence, stalking, and wrongful death. Our recent settlement for the families affected by the recent murder-suicide in Lenexa, Kansas, where a GPS tracker enabled the perpetrator to locate and kill his victims, demonstrates our commitment to holding manufacturers accountable for the deadly consequences of their products.
Our experience includes complex product liability litigation against companies that profit from enabling criminal activity. Most importantly, we understand that these cases aren’t just about compensation – they’re about preventing future tragedies by forcing manufacturers to stop designing and marketing products specifically to enable stalking and harassment.
Need Help?
Take Action Today.
If you or a loved one has been harmed after being tracked with a covert GPS device, you may have grounds for a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Contact us immediately for a free consultation to discuss your case and learn about your legal options.
Why Donlon Brand?
Specialized
Expertise
Thorough
Research
Proven
Results
Compassion
& Care
- Specialized Expertise
- Thorough Research
- Proven Results
- Compassionate Representation
Nick Brand
Partner
Melissa Donlon
Partner