Location and tracking of mobile devices: Überveillance stalks the streets

Abstract

During the last decade, location-tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated, in mobile cellular and wireless data networks, and through self-reporting by applications running in smartphones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smartphone user's location not merely to a cell, but to a small area within it. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on these location-based technologies for commercial purposes, and have gained access to a great deal of sensitive personal data in the process. In addition, law enforcement utilises these technologies, can do so inexpensively and hence can track many more people. Moreover, these agencies seek the power to conduct tracking covertly, and without a judicial warrant. This article investigates the dimensions of the problem of people-tracking through the devices that they carry. Location surveillance has very serious negative implications for individuals, yet there are very limited safeguards. It is incumbent on legislatures to address these problems, through both domestic laws and multilateral processes.

You Never Surf Alone. Ubiquitous Tracking of Users’ Browsing Habits

“…We believe that the privacy and sensitiveness of the information becoming accessible to third parties can be easily overlooked. Personal computers and more generally communication devices that are carried around by people are capable of being located, identified and tracked across different locations, networks and services [8]. All these devices can therefore be used for a variety of surveillance activities, which are in itself detrimental to the user's interests.…”

Überveillance, the web of things, and people: What is the culmination of all this surveillance?

“…We must, in turn, as an informed and socially responsible community, forge together to dutifully consider the risks [24]. At what point will we leap from tracking the mundane, which is of the body (e.g., the location of GPS coordinates), toward the tracking of the mind by bringing all of these separate components together using über-analytics and an über view [25]? We must ask the hard questions now.…”

Identity awareness and re-use of research data in veillance and social computing

“…The term Veillance [1] is used here to describe the domain within which surveillance [2], sousveillance [3], dataveillance [4] and the emergent concept of Uberveillance [5] are included. Social computing [6] is used in the context of this paper to describe the applied use of technologies that share a high degree of community formation and user level content creation.…”