Mobile Location Services: The Definitive Guide

Privacy Issues

We have discussed the many advantages location-based personalization can provide to consumers. However, location-based services also provide an unprecedented opportunity for information to be abused. Without clear privacy rules, a user's every movement can be recorded and later used by commercial and governmental organizations. Consumers are already overwhelmed by unsolicited marketing directed at them via mail, phone, and e-mail. More important, location information can reveal details that might be protected by regional and national privacy laws. Access to a user's location profile could reveal physical destinations such as government offices and medical clinics. In an extreme case, location data provides real-time information ...