GPS: Do you know who is tracking you?

by Joe P on April 30, 2008

With 17 percent of U.S. adults owning a GPS unit as of August of last year — that’s about 40 million people — it seems we’re becoming keener to location-based technology. And increasingly, people are using this technology on their cell phones.

While only (approximately) 5.2 million Americans use GPS on their cell phones — with a greater number using them on PDA devices — more and more phones are being pumped out with embedded GPS chips. And with comprehensive service packages to provide location services, like TeleNav on AT&T, it seems like the cell phone may spur GPS technology even further.

While companies like Garmin and TomTom have decent penetration into the car-based GPS market, we might start to see a shift away from them. Cell phones carry an inherent advantage that these GPS-specific companies simply can’t keep up with: universality. With over 255 million wireless subscribers, it seems like everyone has a cell phone. And if new units are being manufactured with embedded GPS units, soon it will seem like everyone has a GPS, too.

In a way, this parallels TiVo’s situation. Back when they launched, they were revolutionary — digitally record your favorite shows and watch them whenever you want. However, as we saw a rise in digital and satellite cable subscriptions, so we saw those providers offering their own DVR boxes. Instead of charging an up-front fee for the box and then a monthly subscription, as TiVo did, TV providers simply charge a monthly access fee (with Verizon FiOS, I think I’m paying something like $7 per month for my DVR box).

While I’m not sure what will come of Garmin and TomTom, I am certain that we’ll see a continued rise of GPS units embedded in cell phones. While this is a positive trend, there are clear privacy issues at stake. As the use of GPS trends upward, we’re going to see a lot of these smaller issues come to the forefront.

GPS as evidence in criminal trials

In 2004, the nation watched as Scott Peterson was tried for the murder of his wife and unborn son. Sometime after the disappearance of his wife in December of 2002, law enforcement officials placed electronic trackers using GPS in four of Peterson’s vehicles. In February of 2004, Judge Al Delucchi ruled to admit the GPS evidence in the trial.

While this does present some initial precedent of GPS information being used as evidence, it doesn’t call privacy into question. The units were placed in Peterson’s vehicle for the sole purpose of tracking him. There was no subpoena for evidence from private GPS units that Peterson might have had.

The case of Tamara Greene brings the GPS issue into a larger framework. Greene, a stripper who went by the alias of Strawberry, was murdered in a drive-by shooting on April 30, 2003. Her son, Jonathan Bond, filed a federal lawsuit alleging a cover-up by police and city officials of his mother’s death.

Bond’s lawyer, Norman Yatooma, is now seeking a subpoena of text messages and GPS information for city officials from the night of the murder. “If they made a phone call at 3:41 a.m., we want to know where they were,” he argued.

According to Ben Schmitt of the Detroit Free Press, this matter is still ongoing. Clearly, the judge wants to be careful here. Admitting private GPS information into the trial could set a powerful precedent.

Fired because of GPS

There might actually be a precedent that plays a large role in the Tamara Greene case. Just last year John Halpin, a carpenter working for the New York City school system was fired because of the information in his employer-provided cell phone. He had been ducking out of work early — 83 times! — and noting false information on his time sheet.

Since the City of Detroit also issued the SkyTel phones used by law enforcement officers and other city officials, they could be liable for subpoena in the same way Halpin’s records were. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s text messaging records from SkyTel were subpoenaed last year, and may serve against him in a perjury and obstruction of justice case.

In a more recent firing, a Wellman, Iowa, city worker was fired because his GPS records showed falsification of his time sheet. The GPS records actually came from a unit placed in the worker’s work truck without his knowledge. This measure was proposed by the city, and ultimately given the okay by the state attorney general.

Just who is tracking you?

All of this brings into question just who has the right to track you. Or, more importantly, who is tracking you.

Montclair State University in New Jersey mandates that full-time students carry school-issued, GPS-enabled cell phones. Though the GPS unit is not on all the time, students have two options to utilize them. First, they can set a timer. If they do not turn the timer off within 20 minutes, their location is sent to campus police, who are then dispatched to the scene. The other is an emergency locator, which immediately relays their position.

The service is through Rave Wireless. Raju Rishi, the company’s co-founder, tries to allay fears of the campus using it to keep tabs on students. “There’s no Big Brother,” Rishi said. “You need a subpoena to locate somebody against their will.”

That is true. However, because students are required to carry the phones, and because they are issued through the state, a subpoena might be easier to acquire. This could implicate students who wouldn’t have carried the GPS device unless required. The right to privacy certainly comes into question in this case.

Campus isn’t the only place where privacy in relation to GPS services comes into question. OnStar, a company that provides GPS-based services in vehicles, is up front about their privacy policy, noting “information will be used to respond to regulatory and legal requirements.” OnStar comes pre-installed on many General Motors vehicles, so owners could be tracked without their knowledge.

FBI’s backdoor into a wireless carrier

Earlier this year, it was discovered that a government firm in Quantico, Virginia, had an unregulated backdoor into a wireless carrier’s system. Quantico is the home of the FBI’s electronic surveillance operations.

“What I thought was alarming is how this carrier ended up essentially allowing a third party outside their organization to have unfettered access to their environment,” Babak Pasdar, now CEO of New York-based Bat Blue told THREAT LEVEL. “I wanted to put some access controls around it; they vehemently denied it. And when I wanted to put some logging around it, they denied that.”
…

“The circuit was tied to the organization’s core network,” Pasdar writes in his affidavit (pdf) .“It had access to the billing system, text messaging, fraud detection, web site, and pretty much all the systems in the data center without apparent restrictions.”

Yes, this includes access to GPS data. This apparently has nothing to do with CALEA, which mandates a telecommunication company’s assistance with law enforcement when presented with a warrant. In this case, the Quantico agency had/has unfettered access to the carrier’s data, warrant or not.

This is perhaps the most egregious privacy violation regarding GPS we’ve seen yet. The company line seems to relate this to interests of national security. However, there is always room for “secondary uses” of the data collected.

Parents keeping track of kids

On the subject of parenting, there’s always a fine line to walk. When it comes to a parent’s ability to track his or her child, it seems as if that line is gone. Jumping into the debate in any way is an easy way to get an earful from either end.

In one corner is the group against parents using GPS to track their children. The argument in this case is that today’s parents weren’t tracked via GPS by their parents, so why the need now. They tend to favor letting kids be kids, and if they get into trouble, well, that’s just part of growing up.

In the opposite corner is a group of parents who think it is their right to keep tabs on their children. Until they are of legal adult age, they are under the supervision of their parents. As such, the parents should use any means possible to make sure their children aren’t off causing mischief, or worse. A further argument for this group, and a counter to the first group, is that while they weren’t tracked by their parents, they also didn’t have cell phones. With the privilege, they allege, comes responsibility.

It seems, however, as though the latter group has won out. That might have been inevitable.
Independent services like Radar are providing means for parents to know where their kids are at all times. Carriers are in on the practice, too. Verizon, AT&T, Alltel, Sprint, and prepaid carrier Kajeet all have programs for parents that let them control their kids’ cell phone services, and keep track of their whereabouts.

It might be a tough case to argue, but these services certainly ask the question of whether parents have the right to always know where their kids are. Would you be the same person today if it wasn’t for the adventures and mischief you experienced as a child?

Plenty of good to come from GPS

It might seem like we’re GPS detractors. Hardly. There is plenty of good that can come from the widespread implementation of GPS units in cell phones.

The first example is one of the reasons that the presence of GPS chips in cell phones has grown so rapidly: Enhanced 911 or E-911. This allows emergency service units to locate anyone calling from a wireless phone. It is now mandated that all cell phones issued by carriers must be E-911 capable, whether that be through a GPS chip, or through triangulation among cell towers.

This is an important service for the common good. Emergency assistance can only be effective if they know where help is needed. We don’t need any more cases like that of Karla Gutierrez, whose car ran off the road and into a canal in Florida. She called 911 from her cell phone, but because she didn’t know where she was, emergency services could not locate her. She drowned while waiting.

GPS locators can also be useful in enforcing restraining orders. Legislation has been proposed in Springfiled, Ill., which would force violators of restraining orders to wear location-based monitors. This comes after a woman was murdered by an ex-boyfriend, who was under a restraining order. Similar legislation has been passed in Massachusetts.

There are also social networks popping up that use GPS so that you can track the whereabouts of your friends. The value here is that instead of keeping up with your friends on a remote basis, and through a computer, you can more easily meet up with them and enjoy face-to-face time — like in the old days.

Increased malicious traceability

The increased presence of GPS units certainly comes with some drawbacks. With the availability of small GPS units like GPS Snitch, anyone can track your whereabouts if they can manage to get the device on you in some way. Considering the size of the Snitch, it can easily be placed in a purse or under the seat of a car. And then whoever owns the unit can track your whereabouts.

The advantage here is that you can place the unit in your own property, most notably your car, in case of theft. Still, the potential for abuse of these devices is astronomical. What’s more likely, that your car gets stolen, or that someone uses this to keep tabs on you?

GPS social networks present a similar problem. If you leave your phone unattended for five minutes, someone could easily download the social networking software and turn your GPS tracking feature on. You can then be tracked by the perpetrator — or, if they’re so inclined, you could be tracked by anyone who uses the social network. Yes, you might be able to detect this kind of foul play. But at some point, you might find out too late.

What’s in store?

As is the case with any technology in its relative infancy, we’re only going to see more GPS-based applications and services in the future. We’re already seeing location-based advertising, courtesy of GPS social network Loopt. This service is becoming more widespread after its debut on the Boost Mobile network, and is set to become available on Verizon.

The idea is that when a member of the social network comes within the vicinity of a partnered store, a message is sent to their phone, either inviting them to come in or offering them a discount. Many people find mobile advertising an annoyance, but since this is an opt-in service, it can be viewed as a positive for companies and consumers, since only the wiling are targeted.

But what else can we expect from GPS? What about the ability to track your vehicle’s speed? We’ve heard that E-ZPass issues tickets if you are calculated to be speeding in between booths. However, it appears that is a myth…for now. Since E-ZPass records have been used in divorce hearings, using them to catch speeders might not be far off.

(In the same regard, using GPS records in divorce hearings might not be far off, either.)

A positive for business and property owners is that we could develop the ability to detect unauthorized access to certain properties. This would be an effective preventer of theft.

What about mandatory GPS tracing for paroled felons? Or, on a lighter note, what about using GPS to track students, giving school administrators a way to catch kids playing hookey? With all the talk of GPS for either good or bad, how about a quick break for some innovative uses of the technology?

Isaac Daniel GPS Running Shoe

Designer Isaac Daniel has created a line of running shoes that are outfitted with GPS location and transmission capability. These GPS Shoes are perfect for those who enjoy running in remote locations or those who run alone and would like an extra level of protection while on the trails. The Isaac Daniel GPS runners cost approximately $300.

GPS Global Translation

If you are in possession of an ARM Powered cell phone or camera, you have a unique advantage over other tourists while traveling in foreign countries. Using GPS data collected by the phone or camera, ARM can pinpoint what country you are in and translate signage or other language characters in real time. Once translated, the new text is displayed via video overlay right there on your screen. How cool is that?

GeoTate for Digital Photographers

Using GoeTate, digital photographers can snap away, all the while, having GeoTate tag each of their images with GPS data. Once these photos are loaded into the GeoTate software, the photographer is presented with location data, directional information and information about the area surrounding the photographed location.

Educaching, A GPS Based Curriculum

Similar to the widely enjoyed activity known as Geocaching, but with an educational twist. The Educaching curriculum is constructed to teach children teamwork, decision making and problem solving. All this wrapped up in a series of fun activities completed with the assistance of a GPS unit.

GPS is a delicate matter

While GPS has the potential to do plenty of good, there is an enormous opening for abuse. As with any technology of this nature, we’re going to have to learn over time what it works best for, and what we should leave alone.

In the meantime, it is advisable to be careful with any GPS unit you may have. It can help you get from Point A to Point B — and talk you through the directions — but the potential for tracking is prevalent today. And since we have few regulations in place to protect citizens in these matters, caution is key.

Filed under : Mobile GPS