RE: Location tracking in cellphones

["Larry Seltzer" <larry () larryseltzer com>]

http://blog.ziffdavis.com/seltzer/archive/2005/12/03/39365.aspx 

"In a recent column ('"They" Know Where You Are' -
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1893642,00.asp) I expressed concern
about abuse of location tracking data by cell phone vendors and third
parties, and noted that others were concerned about it too.

I'd like to thank Bob Oenning, the E911 Administrator of the Washington
State Military Department, Emergency Management Division, for pointing me to
the relevant US Law, 47USC222 § (d) & (f) -
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=C
ite:+47USC222. These are fairly explicit in permitting carriers to provide
location information to third parties for E911 calling, but not in other
circumstances unless the customer has given permission."

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
http://security.eweek.com/
http://blog.ziffdavis.com/seltzer
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larryseltzer () ziffdavis com 

-----Original Message-----

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005, Richard M. Smith wrote:

> Hi,
>
> My Verizon Wireless Treo 650 cellphone has an option to select if 
> location information is sent in for all calls or only 911 calls.  By 
> the end of this year, the FCC is requiring all U.S. wireless carriers 
> to provide location information to emergency operators accurate to 
> about 150 feet on all 911 calls as part of the Enhanced 911 program 
> (http://www.fcc.gov/911/enhanced/).
>
> I was a bit surprised to learn that my Treo defaults to always sending 
> location information.  After a bit of initial confusion, I got 
> confirmation from both Palm and Verizon Wireless that my observation 
> about the default was correct.  However, Verizon Wireless told me this 
> is a mistake and going forward, they plan to change the default to "911
calls only".
> I'm curious now when other models of cellphones transmit location 
> information to carriers.  Can folks on this list check their phones 
> and phone manuals to see what kind of controls there are over location 
> information and send me the results?  I'll also need the make and 
> model of the phone and the wireless carrier.
>
> For my Treo phone, I found the location option under "Phone 
> Preferences" in the Options menu of the main phone screen.
>
> Thanks,
> Richard M. Smith
> http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com



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