What are electronic anklets? How do they work?

Meng Wanzhou finally returned to China after being restricted in Canada for more than 1,000 days! These three years passed in a flash for us, but it was very painful for Meng Wanzhou. Because she was imprisoned during this period. In order to track the whereabouts of Ms. Meng Wanzhou during her imprisonment, she wore an electronic anklet on her ankle.

Electronic leg cuffs are not high-tech products. Simply put, they are positioning monitors with networking functions. This device will upload the location information of the monitored person in real time, usually every few tens of seconds. When the range of activities exceeds the designated supervision range, the system will send an alarm to the management personnel to remind them to deal with it.

The shared electric bikes we ride now are equipped with a similar positioning system. If the bike is not parked within the designated range, it cannot be locked and the order cannot be completed. If it is locked forcibly, the vehicle management fee will be deducted. The range of locations where the bike can be parked is equivalent to the range of locations where prisoners outside the prison can move. If it exceeds this range, an alarm will be sounded.

The range of activities of the supervised persons is a fixed area enclosed by coordinates on a digital map. This area can be a regular square, circle, or an irregular polygon, which is called an electronic fence. Once the user leaves this area, the system will immediately issue an alarm.

When outdoors, the device will use GPS for positioning; if it is indoors, due to poor GPS signals, it is necessary to install beacons indoors to perform indoor positioning through radio frequency signals.

Some devices also have an electric shock function. If the wearer still does not return to the safe distance after multiple alarms, the device will activate the electric shock function. Electric shock is to use instant high-voltage current to stun a person, which can make the person lose the ability to move in a short period of time. In addition, some high-end devices also have health monitoring functions, which can monitor heart rate and other information.

This device is a product of the information age. Its appearance has greatly reduced the workload of managers. In order to monitor and manage their activities or prevent escape, detainees need to wear electronic shackles when they go out for medical treatment, transfer to another prison, appear in court, visit relatives, bailees are imprisoned outside prison, community correction personnel, etc. This device is either worn on the ankle or on the wrist. With it, the escape rate of suspects or criminals can also be reduced.

Ms. Meng Wanzhou wore it because she paid a high bail fee and could be detained at home. When choosing this service, you have to wear electronic shackles, and the cost is also borne by the user.

Since this device needs to locate and upload data in real time, it consumes a lot of power. No matter how it is optimized, it needs to be charged every one or two days. Of course, this electronic anklet will actively remind the monitored person to charge in time. The reminder of this device is usually a signal light or sound. This is similar to the charging reminder in a mobile phone. When the power is less than 20%, the mobile phone operating system will remind the user to charge.

This device is not as light as a smartwatch, it is quite large. Although it does not affect exercise, it will cause wear and tear on the ankles and other parts of the body if worn for a long time. Especially the need to charge it every day is really annoying.

Some people may wonder, what will happen if the device runs out of power, loses connection with the Internet, or is illegally dismantled?

When the battery is low, the device will proactively send an early warning to the monitoring system. The product has a built-in safety connection circuit and is fastened with special screws. If it is maliciously damaged or disassembled, the system will immediately send an alarm to the monitoring center and the administrator. If the device is disconnected from the network and the server cannot contact it within a certain period of time, it will also send an alarm to the administrator.

This device can be said to be a three-proof device, with waterproof, dustproof and anti-collision functions, and it is no problem to take it swimming. In short, the regulators have already thought of all the loopholes you can think of.