| One of the pet peeves of newspaper sub-editors is "splits" "" pages with the same editorial content but different ads. Each split must be designed separately, multiplying the work. Of course, splits justify separate editions "" the difference in ad-content pulls in revenues. |
| A "split" is a crude way to exploit locational knowledge. Geolocation technology offers much more sophisticated methods to track people "on the fly". It offers new business opportunities and also raises new issues about privacy. |
| Geolocation combines GPS, radio-frequency ID (RFID) and Web-tracking techniques to track individuals and build profiles. Commercial GPS-based mapping and RFID locate people to within three metres or less. RFID chips are often embedded in price-tags and several governments have initiatives to put RFID in license-plates. Web-tracking yields information about surfers' locations and habits. |
| Once a person's location is known, many services can be delivered conveniently. Geolocation is also a force-multiplier for security "" and many ethical problems could arise from that. Geolocation can enable governments to harass people in more inventive ways as well as improve bona fide law-enforcement. |
| On the Web, a surfer's physical location can be tracked by deciphering the URL. Any Web-address translates into four three-digit numbers, which pinpoint the server and can be translated into a specific phone number. |
| Google initiated URL-deciphering to offer custom pages to different countries. Rediff.com was a pioneer with "split" Web-editions. Then Google went local, offering city-specific ads. A search for "dentist" or "restaurant" will return city-specific answers. Yahoo! has also entered this market. |
| URL location technology can be fooled through the use of anonymisers or ISD-connections to remote servers. But new research on router-traces will make masking in this fashion more difficult. |
| Used unimaginatively, geolocation can cause big snafus. One online florist tied delivery to user-location, thus losing out on long-distance business where a person in, say, San Francisco orders flowers for a friend in Hyderabad. |
| But given imagination, geolocation is a powerful tool. For example, the spectacular online trailer of the Day After Tomorrow offered two versions. Los Angeles surfers viewed post-tornado Hollywood while New York viewers (and global audiences) saw Ice Age Manhattan. The movie thereby pulled in more viewers. |
| E-businesses can use geolocation to comply with local laws and exploit local demographics. Access the same website from Tokyo, London, Berlin and Seattle and you might see prices in yen, sterling, euro and dollars. |
| France and Germany ban online sales of Nazi memorabilia; e-auctioneers block such sales to surfers from those countries. Pennsylvania has stricter anti-pornography laws than other US states; porn purveyors filter Pennsylvania content. Online casinos bar surfers from specific countries. Sports Webcasters and online movie distributors comply with local broadcast rights. |
| South Korean parents keep tabs on their kids by handing out GPS-enabled cellphones that transmit the child's location to the anxious parent. Some governments could make it mandatory for everyone to carry these devices. |
| Geolocation can be used to offer differential pricing and terms of employment. A political website can highlight different campaign planks in different constituencies. Credit-card issuers can match a card's location to the owner's location for added security. The possibilities are endless. |
| The security versus privacy implications are complex. RFID license-tags would make it possible for vehicle owners to be charged on a monthly basis for parking fees or road taxes. These would also make it much easier to nab hit-and-run killers and other driving-offenders. |
| But RFID license-plates would also make it possible to track law-abiding citizens in realtime. Any mall-shopper may well be carrying several active RFID tags on their person anyway. Just add a mandatory GPS-enabled cellphone, which enables the state to track citzens "for their own good". |
| The resulting environment would resemble Orwell's nightmare. In such a society, there would be no such thing as a discreet courtship (or affair), or an off-the-record business negotiation or a quiet holiday. How much of their privacy will entire populations sacrifice in the interests of convenience and safety? Perhaps privacy is an outmoded concept "" most governments would certainly prefer it to be. |
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
