Opinions

Mobile GPS requires privacy protection

You know that character with schizophrenia who is convinced that the government is watching him and is used in nearly every hospital or alien related movie ever made?

Today, he might not be entirely crazy to believe that his every move is being tracked.

Although there are several situations in which devices that can track a person’s location can be good, and even save lives, it is necessary for the government to set up boundaries that limit the violations of personal privacy.

After 9/11, the government implemented the Federal Communications Commission Enhanced 911 rule. This initiative requires that cellphone car companies have the ability to locate their customers to within 100 meters (or around 330 feet) of their location using the cellphone signal.

According to privacyrights.org, the company needs three things to successfully track a cellphone: GPS to compare the signal timing, Wi-Fi networks to track signals and triangulation to collect the directional signals from various towers. Originally, phones could only be generally located by determining which tower a signal was being sent through, usually only establishing the city or town in which the person was.

This service is intended to be used in emergency situations, and for this purpose, it is a good idea. If someone ever finds themselves in a situation where they cannot help themselves, there is always the possibility that they can be rescued because of this tracking ability.

More and more now, however, there are movements towards less emergency-situation oriented use of this technology. While some of it is being used for good, other things may be too much, and could arguably be a violation of citizen’s right to privacy.

One of the good uses of this technology is for minors. Although it is healthier for parent-child relations to be able to trust that your child is telling the truth, it is also worthwhile to have a backup. For children who are putting themselves in scary situations, or those who are put in such situations against their will, the tracking capabilities are a blessing. While parents must use their judgment in its application, it can keep children out of harm’s way.

Other uses, however, are downright creepy. One of the intrusive uses is by employers. Cars and phones provided by a job are legally allowed to be tracked during work hours by GPS. While the legal side is not technically intrusive (an employee should be doing work-related things during the work day), it can mean that employers have access to your off-hours activities. Although this is illegal, they still may have the ability to do this, and often without any knowledge on the behalf of the employee. Needless to say, this can be a very intrusive situation which could possibly lead to some bad circumstances.

Cell phones are not the only device being produced with tracking capabilities. Digital cameras are now being produced with GPS built in. Called “geotagging,” the camera takes the image and also records the latitude and longitude at which it was taken. Then when the pictures are uploaded to a computer, they can be sorted according to the location taken. For travel enthusiasts, this is a brilliant way to record trips. Having the camera remember the “where and when” bits makes it that much easier to enjoy a trip.

While it may be a great way to organize photos, it also could be viewed as a violation of privacy rights, depending on the security of the GPS device and the consent of the camera user.

While on the surface location devices may appear to be a great benefit to the new technology age, it also slips back and forth across the line of privacy rights, and often without the general public realizing it.