Do you like your smartphone? Living on the grid has its advantages. You can access the

Internet, visit your Facebook page, get Twitter feeds, watch video, and listen to music all

with the same "communication and media device." Less well known is that living on the

grid means near continuous tracking of your whereabouts, locations, habits, and friends.

At first, the Web made it possible for you to search for and find products, and some

friends. Now the mobile Web grid tracks you and your friends to sell you products and

services. New technologies found on smartphones can identify where you are located

within a few yards. And there's a great deal of money to be made knowing where you

are. Performing routine actions using your smartphone makes it possible to locate you

throughout the day, to report this information to corporate databases, retain and

analyze the information, and then sell it to advertisers.

A number of firms have adopted business models based on the ability of smartphones to

report on your whereabouts, whether or not you choose to do so. Most of the popular

apps report your location. Law enforcement agencies certainly have an interest in

knowing the whereabouts of criminals and suspects. There are, of course, many times

when you would like to report your location either automatically or on your command.

If you were injured, for instance, you might like your cell phone to be able to

automatically report your location to authorities, or, if you were in a restaurant, you

might want to notify your friends where you are and what you are doing. But what

about occasions when you don't want anyone to know where you are, least of all

advertisers and marketers?

Location data gathered from cell phones has extraordinary commercial value because

advertising companies can send you highly targeted advertisements, coupons, and flash

bargains, based on where you are located. This technology is the foundation for many

location-based services, which include smartphone maps and charts, shopping apps,

and social apps that you can use to let your friends know where you are and what you

are doing. Revenues from the global location-based services market are projected to

reach $3.8 billion by the end of 2012, and will rise to $10.3 billion in 2015, according to

Gartner. But where does the location data come from, who collects it, and who uses it?

In April 2011, the Wall Street Journal published the results of its research on

smartphone tracking technology and individual private location data. They discovered

that both Apple's iPhone and Google's Android phones were collecting personal, private

location data, for a variety of reasons. Both firms are building massive databases that

can pinpoint your location, and although Google is already a leader in search across

most platforms, Apple is also trying to establish itself in the mobile advertising

marketplace.

Advertising firms will pay Apple and Google for that information and for distributing

their mobile ads. Apple transmits your location data back to central servers once every

12 hours, and it also stores a copy of your locations on the iPhone. Android phones

transmit your location data continuously. Apple's files on the iPhone device can be

stored for many months.

Both Apple and Google have denied that they share this information with third parties,

as well as that the information can identify individuals (as opposed to cell phones), and

claim the information is being used only to identify the location of cell phones for Wi-

Fi-connected phones, and to improve the customer experience of location-based

services. Apple's technology reads the signal strength of nearby Wi-Fi transmitters,

identifies and maps their location, and then calculates the location of the iPhone device.

The result is a very large database of Wi-Fi hotspots in the United States, and a method

for locating iPhones that is not dependent on global positioning system (GPS) signals.

Both companies say the location information is needed for them to improve their

services. And location tracking is itself improving: newer tracking technologies can

automatically detect the places you visit, know when you arrive or leave, track how

many times you've been to that location, and even know whether you've been sitting,

walking, or driving. Several companies, including Alohar Mobile, Skyhook, Wifarer, and

Broadcom, are developing this type of next-generation tracking technology, which will

add even more value to the data you generate by using your smartphone.

Smartphone apps that provide location-based services are also sources of personal,

private location capability. Foursquare is a popular mobile social application that allows

users to "check in" to a restaurant or other location, and the app automatically lets

friends on Facebook and other programs learn where you are. If you're in a new town,

the app transmits your location and sends you popular spots close by, with reviews

from other Foursquare users. After starting up Foursquare on a smartphone, you'll see a

list of local bars and restaurants based on your cell phone's GPS position, select a

location, and "check in," which sends a message to your friends. Foursquare has a

widely accepted loyalty program. Each check-in awards users points and badges, which

can be used later for discounts at various venues.

Visitors to places compete to become "Mayors" of the venue based on how many times

they have checked in over a month's time. Mayors receive special offers. As the

popularity of location-based services like Foursquare has grown, so too have concerns

about the privacy of individual subscribers, and their friends on Facebook and Twitter

who may not be members. Many observers fear these services will operate

automatically, without user permission or awareness. The revelation in 2011 that Apple

and Google were surreptitiously and continuously collecting personal, private, and

location data spurred privacy groups and Congress to launch investigations. Most cell

phone users are unaware that their locations and travels are readily available to law

enforcement agencies through a simple e-mail request, and without judicial review, and

at the expense of the carriers.

Industry representatives from Facebook, Google, and Foursquare argued that existing

apps as well as corporate policies were adequate to protect personal privacy because

they rely on user permissions to share location data (opt-in services). The industry

argued as well that consumers get real benefits from sharing location data, otherwise

they would not voluntarily share this data. Privacy experts asked if consumers knew

they were sharing their location information and what kind of "informed consent" was

obtained. Privacy advocates pointed out that 22 of the top 30 paid apps have no privacy

policy, that most of the popular apps transmit location data to their developers after

which the information is not well controlled, and that these services are creating a

situation where government agencies, marketers, creditors, and telecommunications

firms will end up knowing nearly everything about citizens including their

whereabouts. The biggest danger they described are services that locate people

automatically and persistently without users having a chance to go off the grid, and

without being able to turn off the location features of their phones.

Q: Identify and elaborate from the case above on the key ethical and social

dilemmas due to the consequent technological trends in our routine lives?