Apple Disables Egyptian iPhones' GPS

floydman writes "Apparently the Egyptian government is paranoid about its community using GPS devices, to the degree that it demanded Apple remove any GPS functionality from its iPhone 3G. They claim that 'GPS functionality should be limited to military purposes.' Egyptian blogger Ahmed Gabr brought this issue up in another article, and talks about how this does not make sense, since Google maps and the like can be used. I also happen to know for a fact that most of the modern cars in Egypt have built-in GPS systems."

Comments

Swell plan

[Opportunist]

In a country that consists to a good deal of desert and other not too pleasant terrain where getting lost means dying it's a really, really good idea to disallow tools that allow you to find out where exactly you are.

Is it me or is this already beyond stupid and paranoid? What "advantage" could a terrorist/communist/boogymanoftheweek gain from knowing where he is? I guess those people are

a) knowledgeable enough of the area to know where they are.
b) Usually not interested in blowing themselves sky high in the middle of nowhere and
c) Not too picky of where they strike, as long as it causes enough people to get terrorized (hence their description).

So I'm waiting for a really good explanation why a potentially life saving function should be turned of for "security" reasons. I know, "national security" means "whatever keeps the government in power" these days, but shouldn't we at least keep the pretence up that it's about keeping the people safe?

Re:Swell plan

[tabdelgawad]

I don't really know the actual explanation, and I certainly don't discount sheer stupidity when it comes to the actions of the Egyptian government, but I suspect it has something to do with those vast deserts you mention. I think there's a fair amount of cross-border smuggling of weapons/contraband at the Libyan and Sudanese borders, and a cheap/portable GPS device like the iPhone 3G could give smugglers a huge technology advantage (or eliminate a disadvantage) relative to the border patrols.

Of course, smugglers should be able to get their hands on iPhones regardless of a ban, but it may have to do with how easy it is to get your hands on one.

Re:Swell plan

[teh kurisu]

True, but IIRC the location request on the iPhone Google Maps app times out long before a non-assisted GPS fix can be achieved.

And the point is moot anyway, until an application comes along with maps stored on the device, as opposed to being downloaded on the fly (the Google Maps app does cache its maps, but I wouldn't trust that caching with live-saving information).

Re:Swell plan

[mikael]

Maybe the simplest of looters could find the coordinates of valuable archeological digs. Before GPS and Google maps, they would have needed maps, survey equipment and access to the journals. Now they could just surf the web and find the coordinates from a research paper.

Re:Swell plan

[ultranova]

Other than, say the ability to drop a UAV bomb on government buildings or open markets from hundreds of kilometers away ?

Ah, that explains it then. Cruise missiles and other long-range delivery methods are easy and cheap to obtain, while a GPS navigator is the nigh-legendary top-secret techical marvel only rumoured to exist...

GPS + terrorists = disaster.

GPS + terrorists = terrorists who can locate themselves.

Most countries do not have the capability of even detecting the thing in-flight (and with the bomb light enough, flying close to buildings the us does not have that capability either).

Most countries don't have the capability of detecting bombs taped into the bottom of a random car, set up to go off during rush hour.

An iphone 3g (or any gps device, but iphone 3g is sturdy, cheap and available) controlling a low flying bomb would be a terrorist's dream weapon.

Yeah. And with a GPS-enabled phone, all they are lacking is the flying bomb.

I truly hope you are trolling. Otherwise I'm starting to get a bit scared, and not of terrorists. Maybe we should start a war on stupidity next ?

Location, location, location...

[nycguy]

Is this really about wanting to keep citizens from knowing where they are, or is it more about not wanting to have a programmable GPS-enabled device that could be used to detonate a bomb when it nears a specified location?

If the above is the case, it's a pretty dumb approach, since a GPS-enabled iPhone could just be smuggled in. Either way, it would be interesting to know what the real motives behind this ban are.

Re:Location, location, location...

[Opportunist]

That sound like a more logic reason, but bluntly, it's not like building a GPS device is in any way rocket science or requires any kind of "monitored" hardware. Actually, the iPhone would be a rather poor choice for such a device, not only for its price. And it makes little sense to build such a bomb in the first place unless you plan to send it through FedEx or postal service.

I don't get it

[LighterShadeOfBlack]

Wouldn't most governments generally prefer that their citizens be trackable? I can't imagine the Egyptian government is somehow a beacon of light in the world of internal spying, so what gives?

Military Use

[Thelasko]

Do they understand that GPS is currently intended for civilian use? The United States, being the owner of the system, can shut it off at any time. One of the primary reasons they will shut it off is in the case of foreign military use.

Re:Anonymous Coward

[OeLeWaPpErKe]

You should visit a few poor countries and note the amount of GPS devices there. I mean even in India there more than just commonplace.

Even on many things you wouldn't consider "cars" you find gps devices these days.

What about tourists?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

I was on vacation in Sharm el-Sheikh last April, and wandered around like a stupid tourist with a Bluetooth GPS and a Nokia N800 around my neck. Nobody seemed to care. We even went through a military checkpoint.

Um, was I doing something illegal?

DRM

[the 9a3eedi]

Why is this story tagged DRM o_O Disabling a feature for a specific country isn't considered to be DRM, right?

My only explanaintion

[floydman]

Is that this is due to "leadership minds'" ignorance of the current state of technology. Someone thinks that by doing this, he has acclaimed a certain power to himself only (the government) in this case.

Is he is totally unaware, that most phones (HTC, I-mate, some nokia's) have GPS's in them, and if not, it didn't cross his mind that a simple wifi connection (quiet common in cairo, lived there for a couple of years) would be more than enough to act as a GPS look alike.

Dinosaurs in control if you ask me.

Someone mentioned above that he was walking around with a bluetooth GPS device, well you are not the only one, I was for a couple of years, a lot of other people I know also did.

The question is, how come Apple obliged...thats what does not make a lot of sense to me.

Re:Anonymous Coward

[WillyDavidK]

I was on vacation down there several years ago, pre-Katrina, but I do remember how difficult it was to navigate. At one point I actually spotted an intersection with two "One Way" signs pointing at each other!