Normally, trackers design for theft detection and reporting can not be re-used for active tracking without changing firmware.<p>The first one is triggered by a dedicated signal from within the car to be activated. Otherwise they are offline to conserve energy. Energy is a very very limited resource in a car. When they are activated, they send a text message for the GPS position. Only a vary view newer once can trigger a web request to report the GPS position. When they are activated they can receive text messages to execute commands like disabling the engine.<p>Versus active trackers are the once mostly designed and engineered within the last 5 years, are able to consume very low energy while activated. They report the position (and may acceleration, deceleration and other parameters) via a web request.<p>Theft prevention are mostly established legacy systems more than 10 years old. Thats a different technology then we are used today.