[Random-bits] M France and D Berman: Location technology in devices such as cell phones will make you easy to Find

[James Love]

http://www.businessweek.com:/2000/00_39/b3700104.htm

BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 ISSUE



Big Brother Calling
Location technology in devices such as cell phones will make you easy to
find

Imagine that you carried a miniature homing device in your wallet. As you
dropped the kids off at school, drove to work, met with a friend for
lunch, then visited the doctor's office, it would send out a signal
identifying your exact location.

This transmitter would enable anybody to track you down at any time--or
to figure out where you had been at a particular point in the past. It
would also give marketing companies the ability to build a detailed
profile of your travel patterns. That valuable data could then be sold to
local restaurants, dry cleaners, clothing stores, collection agencies, or
anybody else who wanted it.

Guess what? You may very well be carrying such a device--or its
functional equivalent--one day soon. Thanks to the government's decision
to open up the Global Positioning System (GPS) to the general public, as
well as lightning-fast advances in wireless technology, it is now cheaper
and easier than ever to figure out where somebody is. As a result,
sophisticated location-tracking technology is rapidly finding its way
into cell phones, personal digital assistants, cars, trucks, and boats.
One Long Island (N.Y.) company, Digital Angel, even wants to put it into
a tiny chip that can be implanted into people's bodies.

Already, many trucking companies use GPS to keep track of their fleets,
estimate delivery times, locate stolen vehicles, and ensure drivers don't
violate federal regulations governing how many hours they can be out on
the road each day. One insurer, Progressive Corp. (PGR), is running a
pilot program in Texas in which customers are eligible for lower car
insurance rates if they agree to have a GPS device in their car and let
the company monitor their driving habits. In Britain, BT Cellnet's FINDme
service can identify users within 300 feet and send information about
banks, restaurants, and movie-theater listings. And, in a little-noticed
regulation, the Federal Communications Commission is requiring cell-phone
companies to be able to identify the exact location of most callers by
2002 so that 911 calls can be tracked down.

    [snip]


GAPING LOOPHOLES. What's more, it wouldn't be all that hard, in theory,
to develop guidelines that would protect people's location privacy.
Indeed, the Wireless Communications& Public Safety Act of 1999 already
restricts the ability of telecommunications companies to use information
about customers' whereabouts without their consent. Meanwhile,
Progressive Corp. and General Motors Corp. (GM), which provides some
location services through its OnStar unit, both have privacy policies
that prohibit them from sharing customer-tracking data with other
companies. ''The whole purpose of our service is to be of value to
consumers. We are certainly not going to do anything they don't want,''
says OnStar spokesman Todd Carstensen.

But privacy advocates warn that the 1999 law is full of gaping loopholes.
And so, they claim, are most corporate privacy policies. Meanwhile, they
fret that the rush to capitalize on tracking technology is only now
gaining speed. According to Washington research firm Strategis Group, the
overall market for providing location data and services will reach $4.9
billion by 2004.

  [snip]

SALIVATING. It is the advertising industry, though, that is really
salivating over the potential for consumer-location data. Knowing where a
potential customer is can be phenomenally valuable information. Consider
a suburban mother pulling her sport-utility vehicle into the local mall.
As she parks, her dashboard or cell phone could offer her coupons for
kids' clothing. Already, prototype versions of this type of service are
starting to appear. New York-based Vindigo Inc., which makes a mobile
city guide for Palm Pilots, has a sponsorship deal with Finlandia Vodka.
When Manhattanites use Vindigo to search for a nearby bar, a small ad for
Finlandia may flash on their screen. The ad could include a drink recipe
that the bar patron can show to a bartender. ''This is the holy grail of
marketing,'' says Vindigo's Jason Devitt. ''Every time you use the
service, you're in the street, looking for advice on how to spend your
money.''

  [snip]


By Mike France and Dennis K. Berman in New York