SMARTER STRATEGIES

China and U.S. Turn Tables on Location-Based Services

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 03-10-11 | Comments

Government authorities in Beijing recently announced that all mobile phones will be tracked 24 hours a day, while back in the U.S., the administration argues for the right to track citizens with wireless GPS.

China is using location-based algorithms to detect crowds before they become "traffic jams," while back in the United States, the FBI asserts that its investigators can legally attach GPS units to automobiles to track the whereabouts of citizens without requiring a warrant.

The Beijing government recently announced that it will be fielding a new platform that will collect real-time information on the movement of citizens from their cell phones using location-based algorithms�GPS and cell-tower triangulation�in an attempt to head off mounting traffic congestion problems in and around Beijing.

The Beijing area has a population of 22 million with a frustrating traffic control problem. However, the system announced by the Beijing Science and Technology Commission specifically notes that it will be tracking the movement of citizens carrying cell phones whether they are driving or not. Every person carrying a cell phone will be tracked 24/7, providing real-time status reports on "citizen movements," according to the announcement.

This commercial GPS tracker made by Navman Wireless is designed to keep tabs on all important assets like vehicles. (Source: Navman Wireless)

The plan announced will target specific congested areas in and around Beijing, and demonstrate that central planning can solve those traffic problems, before expanding the program nationwide. Not only will the information be used to expand capacity of public transit systems over heavily travel routes, but it could eventually provide commuters with recommended alternative routes, one would assume by text message.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., a citizen is suing the FBI for surreptitiously installing a cell phone-based GPS tracking device to his vehicle. Yasir Afifi�a business marketing major at Mission College (Santa Clara, Calif.)�reports finding an Orion Guardian ST820 tracking beacon made by Cobham on the underside of his vehicle. When he removed it, FBI agents showed up demanding it back.

With family in the Middle East, Afifi admits he makes numerous phone calls and travels there occasionally, but that he has no ties that would have persuaded a judge to issue a warrant for a GPS tracker. He filed his suit in the same federal appeals court district that last August ruled a GPS tracker is equivalent to a "search" and requires a warrant.

The Justice Department is currently petitioning that U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse the three-judge panel's August ruling. That original case used GPS to track an alleged cocaine dealer�Antoine Jones�to his contacts, then obtained warrants to search those addresses. The cocaine dealer was then convicted on the evidence and given a life sentence. The panel, however, reversed the decision, warning that U.S. citizens do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy while in public. Court documents also assert that government investigators use GPS tracking "with great frequency" to expedite cases.

U.S. authorities currently still need a warrant to track the whereabouts of cell phone users, but in China, its citizens' whereabouts will be automatically tracked from their cell phones 24/7.