Is it acceptable to have mobile phones with Global Positioning System (GPS)
integrated chip?
First
of all, let’s define a mobile phone. A mobile phone (also known as a cellular
phone, cell phone, and a hand phone) is a device that can make and receive
telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area.
It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone
operator, allowing access to the public telephone network. In addition to
telephony, modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services
such as text messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless
communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming and
photography, GPS… These types of mobile phones are referred to as smartphones.
Secondary,
what’s a GPS? A Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite
navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather
conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line
of sight to four or more GPS satellites.
With
the way technology is changing always, we are asked today if “it is acceptable
to have mobile phones with GPS integrated chips”.
We
claim that it’s even important to have those devices with such a technology
because they allow us to keep up with our teenage son or daughter or loved ones’
itinerary or find out where someone is. They also allow us find lost or stolen mobile
phones. They can save lives and can be used to track people’s location and even
have theirs tracked by others. Gone are the days of having to pull out a paper
map, trying to identify your current location. With a GPS cell phone, users are
able to have the phone tell them where they are, and even what direction they
are facing. Before the smartphone, GPS was limited to separate GPS devices.
Nowadays, the smartphone can act as a handheld GPS system, able to pinpoint a
person’s location to with a few meters. Buyers can search for their desired
GPS-enabled cell phone from the comfort of their own home online or in stores.
The
principle behind this technology is that being tracked by mobile service
providers, which actually share these information with security agencies around
us or the government, puts or goes against the citizens of a nation’s privacy.
Thus people are subject to espionage.
N.Y
Ref:
Neo, check out Megaman's post--you two are representing two different perspectives on the security vs. privacy problem. What makes it unacceptable to track private citizens with GPS data? Their lack of knowledge, their lack of consent, something else? Does it matter who is doing the tracking?
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