A system and method for protecting sensor positions in an array of acoustic sensors which make up a gunfire locator system. The inventive system includes a purity of sensors and a host computer. Each sensor includes: a microphone for receiving acoustic information; a processor for processing acoustic information to detect an acoustic event and determine a time of arrival; a GPS receiver; an encryption module for encrypting transmitted sensor positions; and a network interface for transmitting sensor positions and times of arrival. The host computer includes: a network interface for receiving sensor transmissions; an encryption module for deciphering sensor positions; and a CPU.