Eric- > On Thu, Jan 31, 2008 at 09:13:48AM -0600, Jeff Brower wrote: > > Toby- > > > > > I hope no one minds me putting this up here: > > > > I took a look at the Path Intelligence website. It's actually the case > > that you > > would track individuals to within a few meters using their cellphones > > without their > > knowledge? What about privacy concerns? It's one thing to be monitored by > > security > > video in "expected" places (entrances, store isles, ATMs, etc), it's > > another to be > > tracked. > > <cypherpunk-rant> > > With GSM, at least as far as the specs read, you wouldn't expect > personally identifiable information in the clear. You would expect to > be able to see a TMSI (temporary mobile subscriber ID). Now, like > many big systems, what's on the air, and what's in the specs may > differ. > > From a reality-based point of view, if you are carrying a cell phone, > and it's powered up, you are in fact carrying a locator device. How > do you suppose they make your phone ring? > > There is a reason some folks prefer pagers. > > You may enjoy reading up on the "Enhanced 911 System" E-911. It > mandates that cell phones in the US be locatable to within X meters > under particular conditions. There are two obvious ways this can be > done: (1) your phone has a GPS receiver (or part of a GPS receiver) in > it and thus has to cooperate to reveal your location, or (2) some kind > of third party geolocation system is used to locate you without your > phone's overt cooperation. The E-911 stuff was passed under the "If > it saves only one person's life..." rationale. For additional fun, > dig up the testimony of the FBI director during the CALEA procedings. > Basically he said, "We don't want the location info, just the call > setup info." A cynic might say he got what he "didn't want" by way of > the E-911 "safety" regulations. > > Don't want to be tracked? Don't use a cell phone.
Thanks yes we know this, it's beside the point. The point I raise is privacy concerns, tracking by people for purposes of knowing your personal habits -- not to save your life when you do dial 911. For example commercial entities who want to know your buying habits regardless of whether you manually dial a number, click on a web page, etc. I don't really care myself... nevertheless, it's along the lines of the Beacon thing that bit Facebook. Many people are / would be "surprised" to find out someone else knows what they bought, where they went, etc. when they didn't expect it. Maybe you're right, it's inevitable. But I don't think it helps the cause of GNU radio at government agencies for people to be using it for such purposes. -Jeff _______________________________________________ Discuss-gnuradio mailing list Discuss-gnuradio@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnuradio
