[geeks] Now for something completely geek

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 @ 20:50 +0300, sammy ominsky said:

> On 21/08/2006, at 17:38, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> 
> > GPS location services are capable of being used by all kinds of third
> > parties, and I just think you should be able to turn it off if you  
> > want.
> 
> Does anyone in this conversation actually have a phone with GPS?  My  
> wife's Motorola E1000 has AGPS and there's a selector in Settings to  
> turn it on or off.  It's off by default.

I've had three with GPS.

The setting to turn it off is misleading: it can be enabled by dialing
911, and the company can enable it without asking you on many phones.

Some ideas cell companies have talked about that should make your hair
stand up:

	- automatic telemarketing depending on your location
	- automatic downloading of local ads, complete with graphics
	  and perhaps even music and movies on phones capable, along with a
	  call to alert you to it
	- tracking your location to try and sell you custom tailored plans
	  which aren't for you at all, but are rather to help them increase
	  revenue while reducing your normal calling area
	- selling your GPS location history to government agencies,
	  advertising agencies, and merchants

That's just a few of over a dozen plans I've read about, most of which
got a lot of opposition in their test markets.

Yes, this isn't just talk: quite a few have been implemented in test
markets.

One I read about was the one where you phone would ring every time a GPS
triggered ad fired.  Yes, some idiot in marketing actually thought this
was a good idea.


-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Meddle not in the affairs of Wizards, for
thou art crunchy, and taste good with ketchup." -- unknown]