Will Big Brother track you by cell phone?

by Cameron Crouch

April 19, 2001 —

Thanks to car PCs and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers in wireless phones
and handhelds, location services soon will eagerly offer roadside assistance,
traffic updates, and route planning as well as shopping and services guides. But
what will these services do with the information they gather on your habits and
whereabouts?

These major issues of privacy and security must be addressed for consumers
to adopt these services, agree industry vendors, who are gathered here for the
L-Commerce 2001 conference. Participants include location technology vendors,
wireless carriers, and consumer rights advocates. But for the consumer, protecting
your personal information also means addressing how and when government agencies,
such as law enforcement and courts, can obtain such information from third parties
such as service providers.

Location-tracking draws near

Starting this fall, Sprint PCS and other wireless carriers expect to roll out
location services, thanks to GPS technology built into new phone chip sets,
says Joseph Averkamp, senior director for the Sprint PCS automotive telematics
business. "Early services will be traffic information, route, and roadside
assistance," Averkamp says.

One company, Airbiquity, provides a GPS accessory that fits onto most Nokia
phones. It replaces the standard battery pack with one containing a GPS receiver.

Airbiquity expects to partner with the likes of AAA or JD Power Car Club, which
would offer the accessory to customers, says Dan Allen, president and chief
executive officer of Airbiquity. Users of the GPS accessory can reach a call
center that provides mapping software, push a button to send their location
information, and get directions or assistance.

Advertisers are eager to take advantage of location services to alert you when
you pass near a store that might be of interest. They call the tactic mobile
commerce or "m-commerce."

While such services are likely, Sprint PCS's Averkamp acknowledges that consumers
may not really want to see ads for McDonalds as they drive by the Golden Arches.
However, Sprint PCS is clearly evaluating such services, although emphasizing
their usefulness and availability on customer request.

Addressing consumer privacy concerns

"Consumers won't use systems they don't trust," says Alan Davidson,
associate director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "Location
services monitor movement and habits, something many consumers may not want
known."

Consumer privacy issues fall into two categories: commercial and government,
Davidson notes. Commercial privacy centers on how carriers and service providers
use your information about your whereabouts, and how they alert you of their
use.

"Consumers need to be notified when and what location information is collected,"
Davidson says. Like other consumer advocates, CDT recommends people get the
opportunity to opt out of such tracking. "I strongly recommend service
providers get consent first," he says.

Sprint PCS agrees, says Averkamp.

"Consumers must have the choice and have access to the personal data that
will be used for location services," Averkamp says.

Also, Davidson contends the law needs to change in regard to government access
to such information.

"If a carrier collects information, somebody will want to use it for litigation
or an investigation," he says. "While the Fourth Amendment protects
individuals, the rules are very different for third-party companies that collect
information."

"The law does very little to protect privacy here," he adds. "We
need to raise the bar so that you're not forced to turn over information anytime
someone asks for it."

Hands-free car safety addressed

One place location services will surface is the car. The growing field of telematics--telecommunications
and computing in the car--includes in-car computers as well as wireless phones
and PDAs used in cars. Telematics will bring safety, information, and communication
as well as entertainment to the car, says John Slosar, director of telematics
and multimedia systems at Visteon.

Initial location services like On Star and Televigation's Navigation service
provide directions as you drive. Other, emerging car services include location-tracking
when your airbag is deployed (presumably during a collision), or remote unlocking
of doors, industry representatives say.

But tracking your every move isn't necessarily ideal, especially if the data
is used for some other purpose or released to a third party. Televigation's
answer is to destroy the records before they're requested.

"We keep your location data for only one day, in case it can be used to
help you," says HP Lin, president and chief executive officer of Televigation.
"But then we destroy it."

Driver distraction is another key concern facing telematics and location service
providers. Already, 37 states are considering allowing only hands-free mobile
phone use in cars, says Andy Rimkus, vice president of marketing at Airbiquity.

"Driver distraction can be managed with hands-free phones and voice recognition,
or touchscreens versus keyboards," Visteon's Slosar says. "Driving
is the primary task in the automobile."

Facing regulation

Digital privacy issues are already being scrutinized in several forums, including
collecting user information and software and site use policies. Politicians
and the government have become very interested in wireless location services.

To avoid extensive regulations, service providers and location technology vendors
will need to ensure they will protect privacy, L-Commerce attendees acknowledge.

CDT's Davidson recommends location services collect only information that is
essential to a service, and that anonymity options be offered whenever possible.

Of course, in the case of credit card tracking, consumers only felt comfortable
when there were heavy regulations on who could do anything with that information,
he says. "Regulations could help give way to consumer confidence in location
services, too."

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