Some worry that information could get into the wrong hands
By Nicole Harris
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
� � Nov. 10 � �Sprint Corp.�s wireless division said it will put
global-positioning-system chips in its cell phones to locate its users, stirring up
hot-button privacy concerns that the popular consumer items could become homing
devices. The national wireless carrier is making the move � starting the middle of
next year � to fulfill a federal mandate that all wireless service providers be able
to pinpoint the location of a wireless 911 call within 100 feet by October 2001.
�
� � � �THE AIM IS to solve a problem that has frustrated cell-phone users and
safety officials alike: There is no way to determine quickly the exact origin of a
wireless 911 call.
� � � �Thursday marked the deadline for the nation�s carriers to report to the Federal
Communications Commission just how they would meet the mandate. Cell-phone operators
can opt to install tracking software in their wireless networks, have phones include a
chip with GPS technology, or a combination of the two. In a filing with the FCC,
Verizon Wireless, the nation�s largest carrier, said it planned to use a network-based
solution to meet the mandate.
� � � �Once the cell-phone companies get the technology in place, a host of so-called
location-based services are sure to follow. In fact, these offerings such as printed
driving directions, or say, finding the closest Burger King, are at the center of the
wireless industry�s next big hope: the wireless Internet.
� � � �But privacy advocates warn there are too many risks that the data could wind up
in the wrong hands, as well as several unanswered questions regarding how consumers
will be notified about the use of the information, and how carriers will collect and
store the data. While the carriers say they will be the only ones with the ability to
track calls, the concern is that the information could get into the wrong hands
because the tracking device will be leaving a trail of electronic footprints.
� � � ��The thing that worries me is that your phone could become a
tracking device,� said Kurt Wimmer, an attorney that follows privacy issues for the
London offices of Covington & Burling.
� � � �That could be a particular concern for carriers that decide to go with a
GPS-technology solution. That is because the FCC requires 67% of position-enabled
handsets must be locatable to within 50 meters, or 55 yards, giving a more-exact
location. Under controlled trial conditions earlier this year, Sprint was able to
locate this percentage of test calls to less than 30 meters.
� � � �
Other experts are concerned about consumers� right to choose if they even want such
location data to be generated. �The consumer has to have some rights as to how the
information is collected and how it�s used,� said David Sobel, general counsel for the
Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington. Mr. Sobel says he is preparing
for a public session hosted by the Federal Trade Commission to be held in December on
wireless location privacy issues.
� � � �Still, Oliver Valente, Sprint PCS�s chief technology officer, insists the
Westwood, Kan., company will do its part to protect the privacy of its customers. He
said Sprint is exploring ways to allow users to turn the 911 location-tracking device
off at the push of a button, a feature that privacy experts such as Mr. Wimmer applaud.
� � � ��We will make sure consumer information is protected,� said Mr. Valente, adding
that phones with the new feature won�t hit the market until the second half of next
year.
� � � �But Sprint already is dreaming up ways to say, offer consumer coupons to a
local Pizza Hut, if the customer is in the vicinity of a restaurant. But Mr. Valente
says Sprint won�t give up the consumer�s location information to a third party. �We
could deliver the offer without the third party ever knowing where the consumer was
and it would be totally opt in on the consumers� part.�
