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Thread: Software to limit tracking cell phone users

  1. #1
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Software to limit tracking cell phone users

    I dunno.. I suspect that this won't really be used and that someone can still find you or find ways to bypass the software.

    Now that wireless companies can track a mobile phone's location, customers will want to control exactly who knows where they are and when.

    Bell Labs says it has developed a network software engine that can let cell users be as picky as they choose about disclosing their whereabouts, a step that may help wireless companies introduce "location-based services" in a way customers will find handy rather than intrusive.

    In a presentation this week at an industry conference, researchers for the Bell Labs division of Lucent Technologies Inc. plan to describe how their technology copes with the conflicting demands of speed, privacy and personalization on a live telephone network -- enabling users to specify what location information is shared, when, with whom, how and under what circumstances.

    While one U.S. mobile phone operator, AT&T Wireless, already offers a "Find Friends" feature that's somewhat analogous to a buddy list in instant messaging, location-based services have mostly remained an unfulfilled promise.

    More recently, under a federal mandate requiring that cell carriers be able to pinpoint the whereabouts of any customer who calls 911 during an emergency, expensive network upgrades have made wireless companies more anxious to deploy services which can exploit these new capabilities for a profit.

    Examples of such services would typically include the ability for restaurants and other businesses to send a solicitation by text message to a cell phone when its owner wanders within range of those merchants. Other applications might include the ability to locate co-workers and customers.
    Read the full article at CNN
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  2. #2
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    That's kind of scary.

  3. #3
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    "Examples of such services would typically include the ability for restaurants and other businesses to send a solicitation by text message to a cell phone when its owner wanders within range of those merchants. Other applications might include the ability to locate co-workers and customers."

    The first spam i get from a business , will result in a loud public berating of their management at their busiest time and then the same for my provider of service.(Or possibly a rock with an explanatory note attached through their front window if i am in an especially rebelious mood) I use a cell primarily for its lack of telemarking scum.
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  4. #4
    cell carriers be able to pinpoint the whereabouts of any customer who calls 911 during an emergency
    isnt this something nice....or think about in an emergency...they could see exactly where the person is to rescue them...or how about a hostile situation where somone would call and they would know their location...i think these are some advantages but obviously im not saying that there are no disadvantages
    peace

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    Great more spam too worry about.
    [Qoute]
    Examples of such services would typically include the ability for restaurants and other businesses to send a solicitation by text message to a cell phone when its owner wanders within range of those merchants.
    [/Quote]

    Same here lumpy. One can take so much spam until it gets very annoying. Just wondering if they do that. Would you get charged $$ for looking at it ?

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  6. #6
    Macht Nicht Aus moxnix's Avatar
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    Originally posted here by Agent_Steal
    Great more spam too worry about. Just wondering if they do that. Would you get charged $$ for looking at it ?

    Of course you would. You don't expect the spammer to pay for it do you? After all, it is a service to you that he is spamming you. You might not know you are hungry and need to eat....or something.
    (Too bad they wouldn't let us answer such with a shatchel charge, automatic 5 min timer, and a screamer to let people know tp vacate the area.)
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  7. #7
    rebmeM roineS enilnOitnA steve.milner's Avatar
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    Some time back I spoke to Vodafone who were discsuuig their location based services they could offer. They were boasting that they could text someone as they entered a supermarket with the latest special ofers.

    They were very reluctant, however, to text a customer of mine when they walked into one of our competitors with a message pointing out those items where we beat the competitor on price!

    On a serious note, though, they would only text those people wh had signed up for these services!

    Steve
    IT, e-commerce, Retail, Programme & Project Management, EPoS, Supply Chain and Logistic Services. Yorkshire. http://www.bigi.uk.com

  8. #8
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    Originally posted here by moxnix
    Of course you would. You don't expect the spammer to pay for it do you? After all, it is a service to you that he is spamming you. You might not know you are hungry and need to eat....or something.
    (Too bad they wouldn't let us answer such with a shatchel charge, automatic 5 min timer, and a screamer to let people know tp vacate the area.)

    I think you guys are missing the point. For the AT&T service you have to specifically subscribe and tell them what you want to get. For instance if you are a fan of sushi you can configure your "profile" to know that you like sushi. And if you get close enough to a sushi restaurant that has payed to advertise on their network you will get a notice. It is not spam, and in most cases you only have to pay for the locator service itself. You do not pay for individual messages.

    I had a chance to go the a 3g conference last year and there are a lot of really nice features that are available as a result of these locator services. The main reason it has not been deployed across the country already is that many of the providers are very concerned about their networks being abused and losing customers.

  9. #9
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    Originally posted here by steve.milner

    On a serious note, though, they would only text those people wh had signed up for these services!

    Steve
    Untill some one figures out a loophole and spams the whole customer base....
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  10. #10
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    Interesting discusion here.

    The more convience services that are offered, the more they "control" us. Once upon a time before cell phones you had to hardwire tap a line for example. Now you can just snatch it right out of the air. Then you ad these coast to coast walkie talkies, and the rise in GPS. They offer us an illusion of safety and convience and in return we give away our civil liberties.

    Besides that who wants to walk down the street and pass a strip mall. Suddenly your cell phone has 13 different text messages that amount to nothing more than advertisements. You think the internet is bad for drive by spam and pop ups. Wait till we start having to worry about the software on our cell phones and wireless pda's, just like we have to worry about Windows with an AV. Then they will sell us something to protect us from them. Makes a lot of damn sense to me. You?

    Call me paranoid if you wish. If I hadn't grown up with this processor wired to my spinal cord, I wouldn't subscribe to this stuff. But since I was brought up in a world of technology I must revert back to, " If you can't beat 'em join 'em."

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