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Is GPS One More Way We Voluntarily Surrender our Privacy?

By crooky | January 7, 2008

This Christmas, I was blown away by the proliferation of GPS navigation units amongst my friends and loved ones. I’m no less guilty because I bought one for my car in November when the price of entry-level models dipped as low as $100. For those of you that don’t know - the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system owned and operated by the US Military. There is a Russian version (called GLONASS) already in competition with GPS and an EU version (called Galileo) due to go live in 2013. The system essentially uses three or more satellite signals to triangulate your position within a few meters - anywhere on the surface of the planet.

GPS in-car navigation units, while being a popular gift this Christmas, is really only the tip of the iceberg. One colleague that builds enterprise software for the RIM BlackBerry tells me that their software is going to take advantage of the unit’s built-in GPS chip to time, date and location stamp. When employers start putting GPS-enabled devices in the hands of their employees, it can give them a way to audit the reported behavior of those employees by checking their location against what they reported they were doing at the time. How much longer before the government can get a warrant for your GPS records to check how fast you were driving or to verify an alibi?

I raise these issues because most people seem pretty carefree when jumping on the GPS bandwagon without really considering the cost. We’ve already seen insidious applications - discreet GPS units used to track cheating spouses, firings when GPS records don’t match reported work activities , etc… Some of these, I don’t even have a problem with but I do have concerns that consumers are buying into the infrastructure without realizing the potential for abuse - by official channels or otherwise. I am well aware of the fact that my generation (X/Y) “talks the talk” when it comes to privacy but doesn’t necessarily “walk the walk” as evidenced by the completely inappropriate and personal garbage most people have on their Facebook pages.

What I do know is that our employers, our governments and criminals are using our electronic breadcrumbs (to use a Hansel and Gretel reference) to track our behavior and movement. HR 101 now includes a somber lecture on the risks associated with using Facebook. If you combine GPS with CCTV cameras of London fame and our own willingness to give away our personal information freely via the Internet
 - it wouldn’t take much effort to piece together our whereabouts at any given moment after the fact.

My solution - I bought the cheapest GPS unit on the market - one that doesn’t cache my previous trips. Worst case scenario, I have to ingest the unit as CSIS tries to break down my door. I don’t think this is likely to happen but it makes me giggle at the thought of trying to choke back a 3.5″ GPS unit while someone uses a battering ram on my patio door. My point is that we just don’t know how much privacy we’re voluntarily surrendering when we purchase these seemingly innocuous pieces of technology. Think about it before you jump on the GPS bandwagon.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for ten years.

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