Sunday, March 27, 2011

Locating Cell Phones: Is it Ethical?

By Denetor Ectellion


Many individuals are wary of how their right to privacy is seemingly being
ignored as technologically society is advancing and using previous
unimagined methods to gain new information. In the past, only those in
certain authoritative positions would have had the means and technology
necessary to locate an individual via their cell phone. However today
laymen can easily obtain the means of establishing where someone may be
just by having their cell phone number available

There is contentious debate as to whether the privacy we as humans long to
uphold is in fact being violated. Yet it is an undeniable fact that
locating an individual through the means of their cell phone is viable if
it is for a legitimate reason. For instance, you may need to know of your
teenager's current location, or there may be other reasons such as those
relating to security or relationships.

There are countless examples that could be given, whereby it would be of great benefit to use such technology. For instance, if someone is lost, they would be traceable through their cell phone. Or perhaps you own a business and have to keep tabs on where your employee is.

Additionally if you own a business you can use this service to track your
employee, for instance if you own a fleet of trucks and would like to know
the location of the truck driver.

The way in which a person can be located via their cell phone, is through the signals that are transmitted via what is referred to as a cell phone tower triangulation system that effectively is used to track the whereabouts of an individual through their cell phone via a satellite dish.

Cell phone tower triangulation can be used to track someone with a cell
phone through a satellite dish.

The way in which a cell phone can be located is by using a GPS signal as
a tracking device; however this method will only work for as long as the
cell phone is turned on. Fortunately, there is another more advanced
system than GPS which is referred to as the WPS which is more effective
as it is wireless and therefore whether it the cell phone is switched on
or not is entirely irrelevant.

Regardless of you own personal viewpoint regarding such locating devices, it is undeniable that for some it can be literally a life saving device. As with most things, there will always be negativity as well as positivity attached to the concept. There will be those that abuse such a system, however for the most part, it is probably right to conclude that these systems are used to the good. As a result, it is good to know that such tracking and positioning systems are available for those that believe it is advantageous to.




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