There was an interesting article in the New York Times this weekend on the increase in the number of GPS enabled application that are finding homes on cell phones. The article highlights that growth and sophistication in the applications that will pin point your location on a map, show us local movie theaters, guide us to nearby restaurants, and more. The author, Randall Stross, further highlights recent product launches by Sprints Boost Mobile with the social networking application called Loopt (blogged here), and Buddy Beacon, a friend finder from startup Helio (blogged here).
The article continues to give a general overview of the applications, highlighting the security/privacy aspects of each - showing that the Helio application does not automatically provide updates, and the Boost application allows for updated location posting at 15 minute intervals. The author then takes a clear turn to the Big Brother privacy angle and highlights how easy it could be for your location information to be shared without your knowledge, highlighting the highly publicized Hewlett Packard scandal.
To his credit, Mr. Stross highlights the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999, which brought the e911 mandate to wireless carriers. The mandate requires wireless carriers (at varying degrees of of accuracy and over a period of time) to provide the location to first responders/ and law enforcement in the event of a 911 call, and in some other situations. I have not found any stats on the success of the element of the act, but undoubtedly it has saved lives. In this act, Congress also deemed location information as protected as CPNI (consumer proprietary network information). The author did not point out however that in July 2002, the FCC passed their Final Order on CPNI. The order require the express consent or opt-in by a customer before a carrier can release their information to a third party. While not rock solid (due to the "affiliates language" that remains somewhat vague), I think carriers understand that they need your permission to release your location data to another person/entity.
While a good article, I don't like the negative implications of the GPS services. They are built by companies that want to help people connect with others. There are features built in that allow you to turn off your location, or disable the application from updating your location. Further, these apps require that the subscriber invite others into their group, thus controlling who can locate them. Rather than the negative, it would be great to see some press on how these applications are helping people keep in touch - and I would love to see stats on e911 if anyone knows where to find them.
