(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Afifi took his car into an auto repair shop where a strange device stuck to the underside of his car was found. Puzzled to what the object could’ve been, Afifi and his friends posted pictures of the device on the social media website reddit.com . Within days of posting the pictures online, six FBI agents came knocking on Afifi’s door asking for the device back- clear evidence the Big Brother theory really does exit. Social websites like Reddit, Facebook, and Myspace are commonly monitored by the FBI, even after claims the government is still trying to bring ‘wiretapping’ to the internet.
FBI agents told Afifi the device is a GPS tracking system and that they had been following him. Afifi, who is the son of Alaadin Afifi-an early president of the Muslim Community Association in California and Muslim-American rights activist, says he was suspicious of being on the FBI watch list because of his recently deceased father’s political and religious activism.
Zahra Billoo, an attorney on American Islamic relations, says “the group is deciding whether any legal action can be taken on Afifi’s behalf.” Attaching tracking devices to a car is considered LEGAL by the U.S. court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit which contradicts another federal law that requires a warrant for car GPS tracking devices. The theory is that “a parked car has no expectation of privacy, even if is in the driveway of a private residence” –not giving any precedence to who could own the vehicle; also implying that the car has a mind of its own –a law that is raising more questions than answers on privacy and security measures.
The GPS device is manufactured by a Cogham plc, a British producer of military technologies. Over 60% of the company’s revenue comes from the U.S.
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