Electronic Tagging

Electronic tagging is a form of non-surreptitious surveillance consisting of an electronic device attached to a person or vehicle, especially certain criminals, allowing their whereabouts to be monitored. In general, devices locate themselves using GPS and report their position back to a control centre, for example via a cellular (mobile) phone network. This form of criminal sentencing, or increasingly a form of pre-release from detention monitoring, is known under different names in different countries; for example in New Zealand it is referred to as "home detention", and in North America "electronic monitoring" is a more common term. Electronic monitoring has been said to be particularly useful for early detection of flight when defendants have been granted pretrial release, or for preparing incarcerated individuals for release back into the community. Increasingly, electronic tagging has become a tool for courts, penal institutions or hospital facilities, to manage individuals both within their facilities and external to their premises. Typical European usage of electronic tagging includes pre-trial and pre-release management of the person monitored. Use of tagging instead of incarceration reduces custody population and verifies that the person will obey conditions of release from custody.

The same technology can be used for covert surveillance, particularly of vehicles, but would be called "tracking" rather than "tagging".