Big Brother warning for GPS phone users

Published on Saturday 16 May 2009 19:53

STATE-of-the-art mobile phones could threaten users' privacy, affect their ability to obtain insurance and jeopardise their job prospects, academics have warned.

Phones which use GPS technology to pinpoint their location are popular, but academics said a "staggering" amount of information could be revealed about a person simply by knowing their location via such technology.

Researchers from the Future of Identity in the Information Society (FIDIS), an EU-funded group looking at privacy issues, were fitted with GPS tracking devices which recorded their every move.

The team found the data disclosed not just where they had been but intimate details about their lives.

By using GPS tracking to work out how often users went to the gym, visited bars and pubs or even how fast they drove, it would be possible, FIDIS said, to build up a profile of their lifestyles, even calculating their risk of heart disease.

Such personal information, if passed to third parties such as health insurance companies or potential employers, could be detrimental to the consumer.

Researcher Denis Royer from Goethe University in Frankfurt said: "This information is of course extremely useful for companies aiming to produce targeted advertising, and many of us would gladly receive customised drinks offers when we're heading to a local coffee shop.

"However, if users are targeted based on their inferred lifestyle, which restaurants they visit, or how much alcohol they seem to drink, their own information could potentially be used against them."

FIDIS urged users to safeguard their digital privacy and pay more attention to what they were agreeing to when signing contracts and downloading applications.