TMCnet News
Taking down the doors [St. Joseph News-Press (MO)](St. Joseph News-Press (MO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Between smartphones, Facebook, Skype, GPS and Google Earth, the world has grown less and less private during the past decade. And those who prefer their privacy are about to get another kick in the pants. A new technology called Indoor Positioning System (IPS) allows pinpoint tracking of any Wi-Fi-enabled device -- such as a smartphone or tablet -- within a building. This means that an IPS service could potentially track a person down to a table at the East Hills Shopping Center food court, seat 14 in the third row of section 108 at Arrowhead Stadium or even an airport bathroom. As long as the Wi-Fi function in the mobile device is turned on, and that person is carrying the device with them, IPS will find them. In short, GPS has become outdated for location tracking. Indoor environments are challenging for low-cost location systems such as GPS, PC World reports, because the construction of buildings, as well as physical obstacles and even people's bodies, interfere with GPS's ability to pinpoint a location. Therefore, GPS companies may start to fall by the wayside as IPS services emerge. Skyhook Wireless hopes to be one of those rising to the top. The Boston-based company developed the first hybrid location system to use Wi-Fi positioning, GPS, and cell-tower triangulation to determine the coordinates of a device, even indoors. Since then, Apple (Skyhook's biggest customer) and Google have emulated the hybrid system for their respective mapping apps. All sorts of mobile devices on the market -- phones, mp3 players, laptops, e-readers, digital cameras and gaming devices -- are aware of their location because of Skyhook software. For example, Apple, Dell, and HP laptops use the Skyhook system to change their clocks automatically when users take them across time zones. Devices that utilize Skyhook also let users pull up real-time information (weather, news, etc.) in a neighborhood that they happen to be in, and they can broadcast their location so that users can find them in case of theft. Skyhook Wireless also profiles individual devices and knows which ones are associated with certain kinds of people. For instance, if Skyhook sees that a device shows up at Kauffman Stadium four or five times in a season, it assumes that the person using the phone is a sports fan. Or if a laptop is detected at the Kansas City International Airport several times a month, Skyhook's software guesses that the user is most likely a business traveler. Skyhook then packages this data to marketers who want to reach only select segments of consumers or to technology developers who can use the software to deliver highly relevant real-time content to users. However, Skyhook CEO Ted Morgan points out that the system does NOT keep track of device MAC addresses, phone numbers or anyone's personal information. "We're able to see at an aggregate level what 100 million people are doing, so we can predict what areas of a city are getting busy or less busy, what types of people are in different areas of the city," Mr. Morgan explains. "So, if you want to know where to go out in Seattle tonight, I can tell you what the most active street corner is going to be, and I can tell you the high-level breakout of the type of people who will be there, because they've done that every Friday night for the last three years." Skyhook's biggest competitor, Google, recently has implemented IPS technology into Google Maps for Android 6.0. Now, if you go to select shopping malls, airports and retail locations, you can use your Android mobile device to see where you are. The idea is similar to the physical kiosk maps you see in malls, except this one pops up on your phone's screen and updates your location as you move. It will even refresh the map when you move to a different floor of a department store. It also labels all sorts of helpful information, such as bathroom locations, airport gates and ATMs. At launch, the application included floor plans for 17 U.S. airports as well as Home Depot, Bloomingdales, Ikea and Macy's stores. It's hard to say whether Google's new IPS service profiles devices the way Skyhook does. Google's privacy policy simply states that the company keeps a consolidated record of how people use its services so that it can provide more relevant search results and ads in the future. Unlike Google, which only provides indoor maps and location awareness, Wifarer wants to give its users heaps of content, discounts and deals related to where they are located. The Wifarer software works with Wi-Fi systems that exist in public places such as malls, museums, restaurants and airports. If you have the Wifarer app installed on your Android phone (Apple does not yet provide the app), it determines your phone's position within a few feet of where you're using it, and it shows you information relevant to the area around you. The app is currently being beta tested in 25 venues, but Wifarer CEO Philip Stanger expects to be up and running in 400 additional places by the end of this year. He won't reveal any information about these developments, but like Mr. Morgan, he promises that his IPS service emphasizes user privacy. "The app calculates and displays its own positioning and location information entirely from within the app. This occurs when the app is turned on, and only when the app is turned on," Mr. Stanger says. "Upon first download, a new user is given an anonymous user ID, and neither their MAC ID nor their IMEI number is ever recorded, monitored or tracked." In addition to Skyhook, Wifarer and Google, Nokia and Broadcom are also developing their own IPS services. As such services begin to grow, they might threaten your privacy. So, if you don't want an entity -- whether it be Google or a jilted ex-lover -- knowing the location of your mobile device, you should turn off the Wi-Fi function or shut it off completely. "It can be really useful, but it sounds like it's no different than any other piece of technology," says Capt. Kevin Castle of the St. Joseph Police Department. "If people use them wisely, they can be great. If people aren't, they can be used for something not good." (c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |