LOCATION-BASED SERVICES

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES Presented by Alan Reiter President, Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing reiter@wirelessinternet.com 301-715-3678

JAN. 5: LOCATION-BASED SERVICES • Precarious privacy & security pitfalls • Perhaps the major issue in location (besides how to make money!) is privacy. How can millions – billions – of people report their locations without destroying their privacy, and endangering themselves or even their possessions? What privacy and security controls already exist, and are they sufficient? This issue affects everyone from youngsters with their first cellular phones to enterprises tracking employees.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE • How does Where know where I am? • Did Firefox really protectmy location? • IP address, wireless access points to Google Location Services

ANOTHER REVELATION, COURTESY OF NICOLE FERRARO • Google Profiles automatically adds Google Buzz – aaarrrgh • There’s no way out of inadvertent discovery if you don’t know a company’s policies

VERTICAL-MARKET BATTLES • Previously, major disputes over GPS • Trucking • Taxis • Field service • Disputes mostly ended now • Location a factof business

POSTER BOY (COMPANY) FOR DANGEROUS POLICIES • Facebook • Too changeable • Amends policies again and again • Too confusing • Multiple services • Too numerous • Pages and pages of privacy settings

FACEBOOK PLACES • Location check-ins come to Facebook • By default: Checking into a Place automatically appears on your profile, newsfeed, and stream for that Place • By default: Friends may check you into a Place without approval • Other apps may push information to Places • Booyah, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp

GOOGLE LATITUDE • Employs Google Maps to show location of friends • Some concerns over privacy if third party gets phone • User controls • Visible citywide, but not particular street; manually update location; stop location • Accept each friend share request individually; accept but be invisible

LOCATION DATA POLICIES FOR APPLE, ANDROID • For iOS, Apple and partners may use and share anonymous “precise…real time geographic data” from applications • Users may opt-out, but won’t be able to download those apps • Users also may turn off location services on devices, but Apple may still track devices in general • Google has a similar policy for Android apps

WSJ: YOUR APPS ARE WATCHING YOU • Wall Street Journal highlights iPhone, Android apps that transmit user data • Location, phone number, phone ID, real name, age, gender • Examined 101 applications – 47 transmitted location • Many transmitted data to multiple advertising companies

WSJ: YOUR APPS ARE WATCHING YOU • Many companies transmit phone ID, with or without consent • 45 companies didn’t post privacy policies with phone app or on Website • Marketing firms monitor apps downloaded, how frequently used, time spent within apps, how many levels within app

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS IN THE COURTS • Good: U.S. courts rule against government’s case to obtain cellular phone location data without a search warrant • Courts rule judges may demand police, etc. obtain a search warrant before obtaining cellphone location data • Also could affect other government demands without warrants, such as for email • Bad: No warrant required by DEA to plant GPS device on a car

DO LOCATION APPLICATIONS NEED A USERS’ BILL OF RIGHTS? • Electronic Frontier Foundation suggests social networking sites adoptthree privacy principles • The right to informed decision-making • The right to control • The right to leave • But all social networking/location services have privacy policies • Are they strong enough? • Are they followed?

SELF LOCATION • Checking in via RFID with Facebook • Facebook Presence • Attendees of F8 conference given RFID tags to check inat different locations • Tag yourself in photos, becomea fan of Facebook pages. • Facebook RFID for beer

KNOWINGLY, UNKNOWINGLY WE REVEAL OUR LOCATION • Our photos, our updatesbetray us withGPS tags

THANK YOU! Alan Reiter reiter@wirelessinternet.com

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES