Number 211 - December 2000
Wireless Phones Can Tell You (and Others) Where You Are
by Paul Andrews, User Friendly, Seattle Times Oct 15, 2000
    On the road not long ago, I called my cell-phone carrier's information line to get the number for a restaurant at my overnight stop that evening. When I requested the restaurant's number, the operator cheerily asked if I wanted her to make reservations. No cost for the service was mentioned. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. The operator told me she would call back in a few moments to confirm. There was no need for me to give her my number--she knew it already; And then the clincher: She not only knew my number, she knew my general location --the closest big town, and how far away I was from my destination.

    There was an obvious convenience here for me. And for the setup to work, the operator needed to know if I would be in cell range. But I found the experience somewhat unnerving. Any time you think you're anonymous and find out otherwise, it can give you pause.

    It's a feeling destined to become more routine. By this time next year, all new wireless phones are scheduled to contain technology identifying the phone's geographical location.

    Using global-positioning system coordinates or a process called triangulation (which reads the phone's signal from three towers and deduces the location from the signal's strength), the network will be able to determine the phone's location within a few feet.

BUILDING A MARKET: The logic behind the new feature is reasonable. Congress passed "E-911 " legislation with the thought of aiding emergency services--police, fire, medical technicians--in pinpointing the location of someone needing help.
    Stories abound of cell phones saving victims of injury, assault and heart attacks. Stranded mountain climbers and other outdoor adventurers also have put the phones to good use.

    The cell-phone industry, moreover, can be expected to support the new technology. It will provide yet another reason for someone without a phone to buy one, and for those with phones to upgrade to new models.

    There are obvious privacy implications to the technology that will need to be addressed. Law-enforcement and national-security authorities, who already use wireless network technology to track potential criminal activity, will continue to leverage the new system. Undoubtedly issues will arise from civilian phone users about whether the network they use is tracking their movements, and whether employer-supplied phones will similarly be used to monitor staff whereabouts.

    While these issues are sobering, they tend to get sorted out by the parties involved. No one is opposed
to curbing crime. As for privacy invasions, network carriers, employers and other phone suppliers will have to reassure users or face repercussions.

    The more problematic danger of the new system may prove to be in the area of unwanted contacts.

HERE COMES THE SPAM: Location technology represents a potential gold mine to marketers. Think about it: You're at the corner of Fourth and Pike in downtown Seattle. Hungry? There's a great New York-style restaurant right around the comer.
    Need a jolt of caffeine? The nearest Starbucks is just a block away. And did you know the Bon has a 20-percent-off sale?

    It may well be that you are looking for a Starbucks or need a new pair of slacks and will welcome these contacts. But if the wireless Web turns out to be anything like the land-line Web, the humble consumer is facing a constant barrage of junk.

    In some cases, the marketing scenario could prove counter to location technology's whole purpose. You are involved in a car accident. You retrieve your phone to call for help. You power it up and go to dial 911. Instead, up pops a window advertising tickets to the next Beastie Boys concert.

    You may very well be a Beastie Boys fan. But now is not the time.

    Location technology is yet another reason the Internet industry needs to consider stronger measures preventing spam. Here is the clear delineation of costs vs. benefits. Being identifiable by the network could save my life or yours.

    If we do not have the ability to exercise a degree of control, however, it could ruin our lives as well.

    User Friendly appears Sundays in the Personal Technology section of The Seattle Times. Paul Andrews is a Seattle Times technology reporter. Send e-mail to: pandrews@seattle-times.com.

TOGGLE Editor's Note:
    Locating your cell phone by triangulation can be done not only from three (or more) earth-based antenna towers if you can see them and they can see you, but also by the satellite GPS system. Don't laugh! Who thought, 15 years ago, that the Internet would take off like it did? One source we read, recently, claimed that folks that live out in the boonies, or you campers who take your laptops along on a trip, may be accessing the Internet by satellite link at competitive rates in the not too distant future. We think the satellite link is likely--but competitive rates? We're not so sure about that one. A development certainly worth watching though.
 
  Number 211 - December 2000