[426] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Critics Lose Their Bearings Over Google Latitude
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Thu Feb 5 20:22:23 2009
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 16:52:58 -0800
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Critics Lose Their Bearings Over Google Latitude
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000504.html
Greetings. With Google's announcement of their new "friends tracking"
location service ( http://www.google.com/latitude ) for cell phones
and other devices, Privacy International has once again taken the
opportunity to shoot various misplaced barbs in Google's direction
( http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127440 ).
Without getting into all of the technical mumbo-jumbo here, I'll
simply point out that while potential abuses of GPS devices
(particularly when attached to or part of cell phones) are very real,
attacking the sort of opt-in service represented by Latitude seems to
be demonstrating an almost amusing lack of understanding relating to
GPS/phone technology.
The reason why is simple in the extreme. While we can argue about
data retention policies, and postulate complicated abuse scenarios,
the real GPS risk to cell phone users isn't from openly promoted,
commercial, opt-in services (of which Latitude is but one example).
Rather, the major danger is from purpose-built programs designed from
the ground up for surreptitious tracking of individuals, unencumbered
by such niceties as public disclosure, opt-in requirements, and
privacy policies.
Give me an hour or so, and I could write a program to silently access
many cell phones' GPS units at intervals and shoot the users'
coordinates down the phones' data connections to never-never land,
with the phones' owners likely unaware what was going on unless they
were particularly attentive.
If you wanted to track someone's location without their knowledge,
would you really want to get Google involved in the loop
unnecessarily, using a publicly known application that could be easily
stumbled upon by the user? Of course not!
This doesn't address the broader issue though. While attacking Google
over Latitude is a ridiculous exercise, the fact that cell phone GPS
units can potentially be abused in truly nasty ways by specialized,
hidden software is a genuine concern.
But GPS capabilities are rapidly becoming the rule in cell phones, not
the exception.
The legitimate benefits of GPS-type functions in cell phones are
undeniable, and are even required to one extent or another in the U.S.
by FCC E911 requirements. Cell phones without data capabilities are
becoming few and far between, and even without a data connection,
location data could be "secretly" transmitted via text messages (with
significantly more probability of exposure).
There are a variety of technical and user interface approaches to help
minimize the risks of "invisible" GPS tracking by any applications,
and a public discussion about the pros and cons of cell phone GPS
systems, and how they should best be managed and controlled, seems
completely appropriate.
However, if we're going to have such a dialogue, it's important that
we stay in focus and not waste time with inappropriate posturing
whenever Google brings out a new product.
Google's Latitude is not the problem -- it's a well thought out,
opt-in offering.
GPS itself, in a significant number of contexts, can indeed be abused
in ways that can cause serious problems -- and yet GPS also can be an
incredibly useful wonder in a range of extremely important or just
plain fun legitimate applications.
When it comes to GPS and cell phones, let's keep our eyes on the ball,
and not be distracted by irrelevant antics.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
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