Modern Problems of Geolocation Technologies - Essay Example

Geo-location and the Web Prepared by This paper explains the Geo-location technology current issues those are raised due to its illegal usage. Geo-location is really effective technology but if someone uses it for wrong purpose then it becomes evil for us. First of all this paper will explain what Geo-location is. Next section will present the main issues those are raised due to the negative use of this technology. And the last section will provide the final conclusion of the whole discussion. Novel location-aware applications could be enabled by an efficient means of inferring the geographic location of Internet hosts. Examples of such location-aware applications comprise targeted advertising on web pages, automatic selection of a language to display content, restricted content delivery following regional policies, and authorization of transactions only when performed from pre-established locations. Inferring the location of internet hosts from their IP addresses is a challenging dilemma because there is no direct relationship between the IP address of a host and its geographic location (Freedman et al, 2005). The ability to find out the geographic location of an internet host would facilitate a variety of applications, from the mundane to the essential. Commercial databases currently provide rough and incomplete location information, enabling some targeted advertising delivered by the Web, as well as other content localization. If dependable, it could serve as part of an E-911 system for voice over-IP or a broadcast system for local emergencies. A ubiquitous location service as part of the infrastructure has been identified by some as an important vision for the future Internet (Ziviani et al, 2005). We refer to the process of finding the geographic location of an Internet host as IP geo-location. This is a difficult dilemma, even putting mobility aside, because the decentralized management of the Internet means that there is no authoritative database of host locations. The databases that do exist are derived by combining a mish-mash of sources (including DNS LOC records, whose registration, and DNS hostname parsing rules). They are all manually maintained, and thus subject to inconsistencies and outdated information (Enge et al, 1999). Automated systems are desirable as they can eradicate these problems and produce dependable results. However, they subsist only for specialized cases and equipment, such as the use of GPS and GSM or 802.11 beacons; even the latter depend on a large database of landmarks that must be manually entered. Our larger goal is to develop an automated service for IP geo-location that is broadly applicable and scales to the size of the Internet. Such a service would be queried by IP address and return an accurate location estimate. It would have key advantages relative to existing systems. Unlike GPS, GSM and 802.11 methods, it would require no specialized hardware and thus be truly ubiquitous, available for all Internet hosts. Unlike methods based on DNS names, it would automatically derive the location estimate even if DNS names are unavailable or incorrect, a common occurrence in high-churn databases (Freedman et al, 2005). Issues In the year 2005 a report by the Canadian government remarked that a Geo Location technology brings in novel challenges with respect to privacy strategy and regulations. For example, how does permission function when one is in an incessant circuit? Should consent be there given merely once, when signing-up to utilize the cell-phone, when the client is to be tracked each instant thereafter? Considerably, Geo location information may be combined with other data to generate profiles with thus far another measurement, position, added to the formerly existing mishmash. The parallels with previously obtainable surveillance footed on neighbor-hood or on effective movement on the internet propose that such data will certainly be precious. While parental tracking of young people might elevate simply privacy issues, significant however they may turn out to be, profitable and regulation enforcement utilize of such data could fine be important for social sorting. The other, previously existing, data are employed to permit discrimination and discrepancy treatment for dissimilar types of persons and position data could glowing add one additional dimension to the similar processes (Davis et al, 2003). It continued that concern about the misuse of location data are of more than one sort. One anxiety is that, with the incorporated tradition of mobile computing devices, position tracking devices and e-mail networks, there is possible for mistreatment of such technology all the way through sneaky or unnecessary tracking of the user. While forms of pestering may spring to mind, other additional banal misuses may happen when tracking devices are utilized to regulate users. One more significant worry beneath the misuse heading is that, in adding up to present personal information that has been gathered from a user, the employ of geo-location based technology in tandem with wireless- technology at the present puts in geographical location information to the list of individual /personal private information acquired. Marketing corporations are particularly paying attention in such data, certainly with rising planned integration among marketing and safety agencies, these data might healthy turn out to have considerable added worth (Freedman et al, 2005). Other fears comprise the vulnerability of the novel geo-location technologies to illegal interception. An amount of critics criticize that Web applications and mobile computing devices hold feeble communications security. At present, wireless communication on web or mobile is inefficiently encrypted, leading a lot of users to speculate how vulnerable they in point of fact are to hackers and conflict/war drivers. When web/mobile computing devices are united with GPS and portable technology, a user’s position and the circumstance they are working inside in real time be able to turn out to be vulnerable to dispersion together with their communication content. Geo-location and legal questions: a lot of recent court cases underline the hesitation surrounding the potentials of internet geo-location technology, and the troubles this leaves the courts in. To the side from privacy, a main legal dilemma is the aptitude to employ geo-location technology to censor content download from the web sites (Freedman et al, 2005). This technology has great probability to permit websites with all-inclusive reach at the same time to think local in their publicity.  A number of privacy advocates object to implementation of this technology for the reason that they think IP addresses, which are examined to choose a users location, to be individually identifiable information.  They are apprehensive that this data/ information could be employed to observe a users browsing behavior /habits.  The majority of geo-location corporations though, say they dont follow Web habit by IP address. 1 Usually speaking, no controls are established \ when Internet data/ information/ content are moved across national borders. This is a serious situation that can put the security of in dangerous situation. I will present few solutions that have developed till now to over come these critical issues. Now a day’s we have dominant firewall software that can keep and aware from external intrusion. These can be update and downloaded from the web easily. These are the main solution to protect your data and information on your computer. Next I will talk about the anti-spy software that also protects us from any external spy attack. When someone wants to break in our computer, or want to steal our data through this way: in such situation resolve these problems automatically and also ask the required action to take to the user. The above two techniques are used to protect the data on the computer, but what happens when we transfer data on the medium. There are also other techniques used to protect the data that is being transferred. In which most common techniques is data encryption: when we transfer our data then it becomes transformed into an unreadable format that can only be readable on decrypting it with proper key: So this can also safe us form data theft. 2 Now I will talk about the IP geo-location data and a service that provides us all necessary data safety and other privacy relates issues. Quova, Inc., the main authority on IP Intelligence and chief contributor of IP geo-location data and services, claimed the release of its novel suite of geo-location solutions for the global Internet venture. Few of new geo-location solutions solution regarding safety, privacy, and secure on line business are developed by Quova: a few of them given below. (Banerjee et al, 2004)3 Quova Secure Quova Compliance Quova Media and Quova Marketing These are the products that are developed on the basis of five years achievement by Quova’s customers and partners in the exercise of geo-location, and are developed and designed to above all provide satisfy the requirements and demands of ventures security in terms of the banking, e-retail, media, gaming, payment processing, and online marketing industries (Davis et al, 2003). Concluding the whole discussion we have observed that Geo-location technology is really good if we use it for better purpose like in: 4 Fraud detection Censorship Geo marketing Regional licensing Target content Mobile phones Spam fighting Rescue, etc. But usage of this technology for bad purpose makes it harmful. So it’s our responsibility to use it positively and spread the awareness to use new technology in a positive way. REFERENCES 1. Banerjee, S., Griffin, T.G. and Pias, M. 2004. ‘The inter domain connectivity of Planet Lab nodes’; in Proc. Passive and Active Measurement Workshop Antibes Juan-les-Pins, France. 2. Davis, C. Vixie, P. Goodwin, T. and Dickinson, I. 2003. ‘A means for expressing location information in the domain name system’; Internet RFC 1876. 3. Enge, P., & Misra, P. 1999. ‘Special issue on global positioning system’; Proc. IEEE, vol. 87, no. 1, P.P. 3–15. 4. Freedman,M.J., Vutukuru, M. Feamster, N. & Balakrishnan, H. 2005. ‘Geographic locality of IP prefixes’; in Proc. ACM Internet Measurement Conf. Berkeley. P.P. 153–158. 5. Freedman, M.J., Freudenthal, E. and Mazires, D. 2001. ‘Democratizing content publication with coral’;in Proc. of USENIX NSDI, San Francisco, California. 6. Kenneth C. Laudon. 1998. ‘Management Information System’; Sixth Edition. New York. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. 7. Padmanabhan, V.N., & Subramanian, L. 2001. ‘An investigation of geographic mapping techniques for Internet hosts’; in Proc. ACM SIGCOMM, San Diego. P.P. 173–185. 8. Padmanabhan, V.P., & Subramanian, L. 2001. ‘An investigation of geographic mapping techniques for Internet hosts’; in SIGCOMM, San Diego, CA. 9. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Retrieved from: GeoURL, http://www.geourl.org/. 10. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Retrieved from: Net World Map, http://www.networldmap.com/. 11. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Retrieved from: MaxMind LLC, GeoIP, http://www.maxmind.com/geoip/. 12. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.ipligence.com/ 13. Retrieved on November 10, 2008. Retrieved from: http://member.dnsstuff.com/ 14. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7040.pdf 15. Subramanian, L., Padmanabhan, V.N. and Katz, R. 2002. ‘Geographic properties of Internet routing’; in Proc. USENIX 2002, Monterey, CA, P.P. 243–259. 16. Ziviani, S. Fdida, J. F. de Rezende, and O. C. M. B. Duarte. 2005. ‘Improving the accuracy of measurement-based geographic location of Internet hosts’; vol. 47, no. 4, P.P. 503–523. Read More

Issues In the year 2005 a report by the Canadian government remarked that a Geo Location technology brings in novel challenges with respect to privacy strategy and regulations. For example, how does permission function when one is in an incessant circuit? Should consent be there given merely once, when signing-up to utilize the cell-phone, when the client is to be tracked each instant thereafter? Considerably, Geo location information may be combined with other data to generate profiles with thus far another measurement, position, added to the formerly existing mishmash.

The parallels with previously obtainable surveillance footed on neighbor-hood or on effective movement on the internet propose that such data will certainly be precious. While parental tracking of young people might elevate simply privacy issues, significant however they may turn out to be, profitable and regulation enforcement utilize of such data could fine be important for social sorting. The other, previously existing, data are employed to permit discrimination and discrepancy treatment for dissimilar types of persons and position data could glowing add one additional dimension to the similar processes (Davis et al, 2003).

It continued that concern about the misuse of location data are of more than one sort. One anxiety is that, with the incorporated tradition of mobile computing devices, position tracking devices and e-mail networks, there is possible for mistreatment of such technology all the way through sneaky or unnecessary tracking of the user. While forms of pestering may spring to mind, other additional banal misuses may happen when tracking devices are utilized to regulate users. One more significant worry beneath the misuse heading is that, in adding up to present personal information that has been gathered from a user, the employ of geo-location based technology in tandem with wireless- technology at the present puts in geographical location information to the list of individual /personal private information acquired.

Marketing corporations are particularly paying attention in such data, certainly with rising planned integration among marketing and safety agencies, these data might healthy turn out to have considerable added worth (Freedman et al, 2005). Other fears comprise the vulnerability of the novel geo-location technologies to illegal interception. An amount of critics criticize that Web applications and mobile computing devices hold feeble communications security. At present, wireless communication on web or mobile is inefficiently encrypted, leading a lot of users to speculate how vulnerable they in point of fact are to hackers and conflict/war drivers.

When web/mobile computing devices are united with GPS and portable technology, a user’s position and the circumstance they are working inside in real time be able to turn out to be vulnerable to dispersion together with their communication content. Geo-location and legal questions: a lot of recent court cases underline the hesitation surrounding the potentials of internet geo-location technology, and the troubles this leaves the courts in. To the side from privacy, a main legal dilemma is the aptitude to employ geo-location technology to censor content download from the web sites (Freedman et al, 2005).

This technology has great probability to permit websites with all-inclusive reach at the same time to think local in their publicity.  A number of privacy advocates object to implementation of this technology for the reason that they think IP addresses, which are examined to choose a users location, to be individually identifiable information.  They are apprehensive that this data/ information could be employed to observe a users browsing behavior /habits.  The majority of geo-location corporations though, say they dont follow Web habit by IP address.

1 Usually speaking, no controls are established \ when Internet data/ information/ content are moved across national borders. This is a serious situation that can put the security of in dangerous situation.

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