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December 12, 2005
Active or Passive Location services ?
Many person ask about the difference beteen Active and passive services. Well here is a little more information on the matter.
First it is important to know that the EU commission has issued a directive on Location Based services.
Known as the Directive 2002/58/EC * The European commission has decided to regulate many aspects of electronic communications.
Most of the points covering Location Based Services in this Directive are as follows:
- Automated calling is not allowed without prior consent.
- Electronic messages that conceal the identity of the sender or are without a valid reply address are prohibited
- Location data may only be processed when it is made anonymous or with the consent of the user for the duration necessary for the provision of a service.
- The location must inform the user prior to obtaining their consent, of the type of location data that will be processed, of the purpose and duration of the processing, and whether the data will be transmitted to a third party
- Users shall be given the possibility to withdraw their consent for the processing of location data at any time.
- Users must have simple means, free of charge for temporarily refusing the processing of location data for each connection to the network.
If we look at the mobile operator point of view, such a directive could become an important cost, because operators are most likely to be the target of complains of people who receive unsolicited push messages.
This could explain why Vodafone has defined so strict requirements regarding the privacy management capabilities of its location middleware technology. As a result Vodafone has formulated a Privacy Management Code of Practice**. This code of practice is obligatory for third parties who want to provide location services to Vodafone customers ( 150 million ).
In this code of practice Vodafone distinguishes two type of location services:
- ACTIVE location services is when the end user initiates the location request (e.g., who are my buddies around me now ? )
- PASSIVE location services, where a third party locates an individual ( locatee )at the request of another ( locator ). Typical passive location is for fleet management or location based gaming.
ACTIVE location services assumes that the user is aware and agrees to be located. The code foresees that the user get at least one “awareness message” to inform that the position is being used and that the use of location shall not be “buried in the terms and conditions of the service”.
PASSIVE location services is of a higher risk of misuse by the end user and the third party providers, consequently imposes stricter requirements including the following.
- Explicit an written consent of the Locatee
- Clear information of the Locatee of the nature of the locator prior to consent
- Name and mobile number of the Locator
- Service name and service provider
- Exact description of the service
- Information on the duration and frequency of the location requests as well as circumstance
- Explicit and repeated notifications of location request happenings
- Direct access of the Locatee to a site that specifies who has the right to position oneself
- A direct and easy way to cancel a passive service.
With such a strict use of the Passive mode, MOSOSO builders have to be creative and think of alternative location solutions. The use of Active location service is still possible but is not as powerful in the design of an "always on" MOSOSO.
Dodgeball has found an interesting oblique way to get rid of this dualism.
* Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 12 july 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic comminication sector. Directive on Privacy and Electronic Commuication http://europa.eu.int
**The Privacy Management Code of Practice V1.0 August 2003 by Vodafone UK http://www.vodafone.com
Ressources: Location Based Services Jochen Schiller and Agnès Voisard ed. Morgan Kaufmann 2001.
Posted by akman - Alex Kummerman at December 12, 2005 08:49 AM
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