Shaman97 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 A coworker of mine had his GPS stolen from his car, parked in the company parking lot while he was inside at work. It was a simple 'smash and run' of a ~$300 unit - not sure which one he has. I bring this up here so you may re-consider putting the 'Home' address in your GPS, along with your garage door opener. I would imagine the combination of these two pieces of information would be valuable to some unsavory character. I've erased my 'Home' info with a random number only I and my wife recognize. One more thing to think about. Link to comment
chrisd Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Very good advice- thanks. I don't understand the idea of erasing home info with a random number. Can you explain? Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 On the other hand, I've heard of a few instances where a suspect has been caught with a GPS and the investigating officer asked the suspect where his home was. When the suspect couldn't match the home location in the GPS, it was easy to use the GPS to track down the original owner to sign the complaint. Link to comment
Francois_Dumas Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Very good advice- thanks. I don't understand the idea of erasing home info with a random number. Can you explain? I guess he means he has a 'number' entered in his Favorites List that represents the location of his home. I had my car window smashed because there was the round 'imprint' of the GPS's holder suction cup visible. The GPS was with me on the bike a few 1000 km down the road. Shees ! Link to comment
Calvin (no socks) Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I just enter my neighbors address.... problem solved. I can find my way home from there! Link to comment
Boffin Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I just enter my neighbors address.... problem solved. I can find my way home from there! Mine has the local police station as 'home'. Andy Link to comment
Shaman97 Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Very good advice- thanks. I don't understand the idea of erasing home info with a random number. Can you explain? I guess he means he has a 'number' entered in his Favorites List that represents the location of his home. Francois is correct. In my list of 'Favorites' I'll put a 4 digit number representing our home. But now that I've seen a few other ideas, I think I'll put the Sheriff's substations address in there Link to comment
Mike Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Just to clarify all of this, the concern is not just having your home address stored in your GPS, but having your home address stored there, along with some means by which a perp could gain access. If you keep your garage door opener in the car, I'm not so sure that the trick of entering your neighbor's address would do much good; once the bad guy got near your house and started clicking the opener he would quickly have access. Not that I've thought through all the possibilities, but my garage door opener is affixed well out of sight (not because I was concerned about security, but because I'm a little neurotic when it comes to cockpit clutter). Smash and grabs of GPS units have become a big problem around here. When I got my last car, I opted not to pay $2,000 for a factory nav system, but, rather, $300 for a Garmin Nuvi that works a lot better. In part because of the aforementioned aversion to clutter, but mostly because of the fact that these things attract greedy punks, I bought a RAM mount and placed it low in my center console. There, it's at least out of sight a bit. I bought an external antenna for it, thinking that this location would compromise its satellite reception, but the darned thing works perfectly, in spite of not being placed near the windshield. Link to comment
tallman Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I've rigged mine to explode if it is turned on for more than 90 seconds and not w/in 3 feet of my magnetic ring. Can't send it back to Garmin for repair, but what the heck. Link to comment
Lawman Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 All worthy of consideration. On the other hand I sorta like the idea of attracting the turd to my house.. Link to comment
Mike Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Just one more thought--a lot of GPS units can be set to power up only if an owner-selected PIN is entered. Worth thinking about. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Just to clarify all of this, the concern is not just having your home address stored in your GPS, but having your home address stored there, along with some means by which a perp could gain access. If you keep your garage door opener in the car, I'm not so sure that the trick of entering your neighbor's address would do much good; once the bad guy got near your house and started clicking the opener he would quickly have access. Not that I've thought through all the possibilities, but my garage door opener is affixed well out of sight (not because I was concerned about security, but because I'm a little neurotic when it comes to cockpit clutter). Some cars have an opener built into the sun visor, which you can program with the codes from your garage door opener. Although I suppose a thief could rip my sun visor out when he steals the GPS. As for having one's house as a waypoint on the GPS...do you really need that? It's nice to have a waypoint to guide you to your home city from three states away, but if you can't find your house from the nearest highway interchange (or even a neighborhood five streets over), perhaps it's best to let someone else do the driving... If your car does get broken into and the garage door opener gets stolen, check your glovebox: if your vehicle registration and/or proof of insurance are gone, then they've got your real home address, and you best be unplugging your garage door opener pronto. Link to comment
Mike Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 If your car does get broken into and the garage door opener gets stolen, check your glovebox: if your vehicle registration and/or proof of insurance are gone, then they've got your real home address, and you best be unplugging your garage door opener pronto. As some here know, my car got stolen last year. The perp apparently just wanted to get away quickly and didn't use the built-in opener to get access to my garage (the car was parked on the street, about 200 feet from our home). I reset my garage opener codes as soon as I discovered the theft. Link to comment
velomoto Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 As for having one's house as a waypoint on the GPS...do you really need that? I've found having "home" programmed into the GPS is great for recreational rides when I've got a time constraint. Once I'm on the road I'll set the GPS to route me home. With auto rerouting and an ETA readout I know when I need to turn around and start heading back. Without this type of leash I always seemed to be an hour or two late! I've now reprogrammed Home to be the entrance to the neighborhood... Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 When I got my last car, I opted not to pay $2,000 for a factory nav system, but, rather, $300 for a Garmin Nuvi that works a lot better. In part because of the aforementioned aversion to clutter, but mostly because of the fact that these things attract greedy punks, I bought a RAM mount and placed it low in my center console. Hmmm? Wouldn't the built-in factory nav system be less of a target for smash-and-grab thieves than a portable Nuvi? Myself, I got a refurbed Street Pilot so I won't be out much $$ if it gets stolen, a beanbag mount so there's no suction-cup marks on the windshield, and when I leave it in the car I throw it in the back seat next to the dogs. And I put my Home location in it so that if they steal my GPS and garage door opener, they know where they can steal a 14-year-old truck with 220K miles on it, a 10-year-old Subaru with 130K miles, a 13-year-old bike with 160K miles on it, a 10-year-old F650, and about 20 used motorcycle tires. Knock yourselves out. Link to comment
upflying Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Don't leave your GPS, laptop or cellular phone in your car and it won't get stolen. Theft is opportunity. Take away opportunity and you prevent theft. Link to comment
randy Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 taking into all the accounts of humor in this thread, I must admit I had not given this a minute of concern. But I probably have 20 friends addresses in my GPS (and yes my home for the same reason noted above LEASH). I had never considered the risk I was taking with my friends information. How many GPS users on this board have friends home, and or work office locations stored in their GPS? I may reconsider my naming convention. for example all home addresses start with hme, so hmedixie is my sisters location, hmedad my Dad's etc. wrkchrsk is of course chris K's tech day location. Until I read this thread I have never really thought of the risk I was taking with other people's information. anyway at least for me food for considering. Link to comment
Joel Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 On the other hand I sorta like the idea of attracting the turd to my house.. I sorta like the idea of being a fly on the wall when that happens. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I had never considered the risk I was taking with my friends information. If you routinely carry your friends' garage door openers along with your GPS unit, then yes, I could see where this is the problem. The issue is presenting the thief with a physical address, while simultaneously providing him with the means to gain access to the residence at that address. Take away either one of those, and the problem pretty much goes away. Link to comment
Redbrick Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 On the other hand I sorta like the idea of attracting the turd to my house.. I sorta like the idea of being a fly on the wall when that happens. Yep......And with a video camera....... Link to comment
Twisties Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I thought GPSs were password protected? Am I missing something? Link to comment
Skywagon Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Not sure if it matters if your GPS has your home in it or not. Smash window, open glove compartment, take registration, insurance, and garage door opener... Look for hidden key under the mat. Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I thought GPSs were password protected? Am I missing something? Some newer ones might be. I think the Zumo is (or can be). My Garmin 276c does not offer password protection. Link to comment
bimmers Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I have several hotels programmed all over the country... The thief will find a bed:) I never leave anything in sight in the car, but on the bike the GPS sits prominently and screwed down (Zumo) while I am out and around, and there is my tankbag as well. Risk of someone getting the GPS to get addresses is minimal, it is just to get some legal pot in CA and contribute to the tax collection, haha. Common sense is what saves most of us. h Link to comment
Ken H. Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Hummm... I think I’ve still got my “Home” set to somewhere in Overland Park, KS. I’ll have to look. On second thought... Link to comment
SageRider Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Hummm... I think I’ve still got my “Home” set to somewhere in Overland Park, KS. I’ll have to look. On second thought... That's just cruel!!!!! Link to comment
Nice n Easy Rider Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I had never considered the risk I was taking with my friends information. If you routinely carry your friends' garage door openers along with your GPS unit, then yes, I could see where this is the problem. The issue is presenting the thief with a physical address, while simultaneously providing him with the means to gain access to the residence at that address. Take away either one of those, and the problem pretty much goes away. In the event that might happen I've instructed my two 70-lb lab mixes to consider the intruder their meal for the day. Link to comment
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