Cell Phone Tracking In the UK

jvlb writes "The BBC reports on cell phone tracking systems now available in Britain. The correspondent addresses the privacy and security issues that ensue." From the article: "With more and more children owning mobile phones, special attention needs to be given to who can track them. If you are not a genuine parent or guardian, the code requires location services to check that both the tracker and the person being tracked can prove they are consenting adults. Mr Macleod says: 'The person that is to be located has to demonstrate to the service provider they are at least 16 years old.'"

Comments

16 years old

[biocute]

I don't know how many 16-year-old teenagers would give consent to being tracked, while on the other hand, those need being tracked the most (under 10 or so) cannot legally allow parents to do so?

Should we do it just because we can?

[nx]

TFA mentions several reasons as to why one would want to use this service, viz. tracking your employees or your children. Oh, whatever did we do before this technology came to save us? It seems to me that while some technology I would deem harmful (such as most surveillance tech) does have its uses - if criminals communicate via email, then the police should be able to read their email (with a warrant). However, this is one area where this does not apply. Giving your child a cell phone does not make them harder to keep track of, thus warranting use of this technology. On the contrary; just call the kid.

I think potential for abuse, in this case, outweighs whatever good may come from this. Please, kill this market by not using their service. Please.

Re:Should we do it just because we can?

[Omaze]

More and more I think about this and I find that it probably won't be used directly for abuse by law enforcement or political officials. What will happen is that the infrastructure necessary to support this will be enlarged. That infrastructure will require care and maintenance by human beings. Those people are socially connected with other people.

The abuse will come from people who are connected to the people who care and maintain the infrastructure for this. In short, more than enabling the trouncing of civil liberties, it will enable nascient stalkers, bitter ex-spouses, and control freaks.

The same goes for the US NSA spying program. People are right. There are probably too many checks for politicians or law enforcement officials to directly abuse the system. Some day, though, when some middle manager at the FBI/NSA/CIA/whoever is facing a tough year for performance, has a new baby, and needs house repairs... you can bet s/he'll be mining that database for all s/he's worth to put together any flimsy excuse for an investigation/detention/arrest that s/he can find. Every one of the people who has access to the databases will probably require some sort of security clearance but when it takes 10,000 techs to take care of the database there will always be some insiders who managed to slip through the process.

So while the government may not be the final criminal their pet projects are enabling the criminals--the very people they're supposed to be protecting us against.

LBS - Location Based Services

[Anonymous Coward]

This is quite commonly used in the UK, lots of companies provide the service with connections in to the main networks... it's used for all kinds of things - a service I used last week allowed you to dial a number and be connected to the nearest taxi operator, fantastic for when you're out in the middle of London...

In Norway they are using assisted GPS (GPS on mobiles with data / maps coming over GPRS or 3G) and can provide directions to your nearest doctor or supermarket or whatever right down to 10 metre accuracy.

BTW, the guys providing this service do so through MX Telecom (juding by the short code in the picture - 88600) - http://www.mxtelecom.com/lbs.

SIM card swap

[PornMaster]

I would imagine that kids who were off and up to no good would pop in a different SIM card and meet up with their friends. The thing about cell phone tracking is that it would be quite hard to prove someone wasn't just out of range (elevator, basement), so even if the tracking were to say, "No Data Available", you can't assume that the kid turned off the phone or changed SIMs.

The battle between functionality and privacy.

[keilinw]

Its funny how my perception of the world changes depending on the current situation. I firmly believe in a person's right to privacy. However, I've often thought that it would be very useful to be able to track people with cell phones. The HYPOTHETICAL solution would be that those who consent to tracking could broadcast their locations to their friends, thus making it easy to know if one is in proximity to someone they would like to meet up with.

On the flip side, as we all know, are the privacy issues that stem from this. And, in this day and age I'm certain that there is a lot of room for abuse. The author of the BBC article certainly proved this to be the case. Is is really ever possible to achieve this hypothetical solution where only those who consent to being tracked are tracked?

The BBC author brings up another interesting point that I didn't think of before --the issue of tracking children or minors. For some reason I always assumed that the greatest benefit from this technology would be to track your children and perhaps even keep tabs on whether or not they are visiting "forbidden" areas. Obviously this is not the case as children cannot legally consent to being tracked! So what about that GPS tracking collar thing? How do the children consent there?

The battle between functionality and privacy continues in full force. I'm sure that we'd all like the CONVENIENCE of RFID, biometric scanners, wireless credit cards, wireless passports, etc... but at what price and at what risk to our privacy? Certainly large governments will be the major players behind such schemes. Who knows... for a while privacy rights may be protected... but what about the future? Since the technologies are there then the room for abuse is also there....

Some food for thought.

Matt Wong

http://www.themindofmatthew.com

Re:The serveillence society

[ScrewMaster]

By any ordinary measure, America already is a police state. One that is far more technologically-advanced (and thus potentially far more invasive) than any that have preceeded it, with the possible exception of Great Britain. The fact that the abuses that invariably occur with the arrogation of such power haven't reached the level of, say, the old East German government is irrelevant. America is a police state held in check by tradition and the tattered remnants of our Constitution, and once our educational system has finished removing any sense of history, or understanding of what it once meant to be an American, that pesky document with its "inalienable rights" and other inconveniences can be eliminated once and for all.

I doubt I will want to live here then. I doubt they will let me leave.

Old stuff

[russint]

When I lived in Finland (5+ years ago), my carrier had some sort of tracking service. Basicly, you just sent an sms with a keyword to a specific number, and got a reply with an address.

Years old, but still cool.

[caluml]

I have access to one of these systems, and I've been tracking myself on a website of mine for years now. Just for fun, really. (And to see if it would be a way police could monitor speeding - better to know if it's possible before they do it. :) It's not - there are too many errors - the cell sizes near motorways are too large and vague). The first thing anyone asks when I tell them is - can you track anyone? And I tell them, yes, on this network. The second thing they ask: Can you tell me where my girlfriend/boyfriend is right now? To which I tell them: I could, but I'm not going to.
It's scary. I think a lot of people would abuse it given half a chance.
You can sign up for developer accounts with most phone networks in the UK - but the queries are expensive. 10p each with a minimum of 5000 per month - that sort of thing.