You may or may not know that your mobile device can track you wherever you go, at least to the nearest cell which in a city can be tens of metres or several kilometres in the countryside. But did you know that someone (anyone) can actually track your phone by signing up for a tracking service where they can locate you or see where you have been on a map? I must admit I found it amazing that the mobile operators will provide this information without my consent to any third party. So, as long as I know the mobile number of the person concerned, I can subscribe to the service, check the box that says I have their permission to track them, and start watching where they are.
Safeguards ? Well the only safeguard is that an intermittent text must be sent to the device saying that it is being tracked. But this is only a code of conduct not a regulation. So, maybe the tracking company won’t be very diligent in sending the SMS or maybe you can have access to the phone and remove the SMS before the owner sees it. Anyway, its not very foolproof for the phone owner.
So what can you do about it? Well apparently not much… the mobile operators don’t seem to believe they have a duty to protect this information from being given to anybody at all on demand as for some bizarre reason its not deemed private information.
The solution? Well the only solution that I have found (in conjunction with my operator) is to turn off Location Based Services (LBS) which then does not collect the data which cannot then be forwarded to a third party. However, you lose any benefits of LBS that you may have enjoyed like finding local services to your current location.
Do you really want a burglar being able to see when you are not home, or being stalked by someone, I don’t think so. The mobile operators should classify this as highly personal data and not allow its use without explicit consent. What next, your call history?
