What’s GPS?
GPS is short for Global Positioning System. GPS technology was initially produced by the United States military. The GPS system uses microwaves released by satellites far beyond earth. These signals are sent to some GPS receiver on the planet. The information is translated into location as well as traveling speed.
GPS technology has been available for individual use for more than two decades but the past decade has seen an immediate rise in GPS technology for the average user. One group that has locked onto GPS technology is the cell phone industry. The US government required emergency responders to understand where a cell phone caller was situated. While 911 calls from landline phones are affixed to an address, this could clearly not work with cell phones.
Cell phone companies, in their need to be compliant with new federal rules, determined the simplest method to make their phone locations known is to make the cell phone itself traceable. Cell phones, whether the most basic model or the most advanced, can now be monitored by GPS. This can be a valuable service for emergency personnel but it opened up a door to privacy concerns for the everyday consumer.
How is GPS Technology Used in Cell Phones?
While any phone can send its GPS recognized position to a 911 center, these details can’t be acquired by others. However, when the technology was created, it was only dependent on time prior to being broadened. Many cell phone companies advertise location monitoring as a service they provide. While you will find many privacy concerns raised about this technology, and you will find out more about them at http://privacyalerts.org/phone-monitoring.html, you will find a number of legitimate reasons that somebody might want to trace another’s location.
Parents of teen motorists frequently feel safer by knowing that they’ll look instantly and know where the youngsters are. A lot of companies that have employees who spend hours each day from the office use GPS monitoring technology to ensure that their workers are focusing on company time. They are considered legitimate uses of GPS monitoring technology.
Like numerous developments in technology before, it did not take long for GPS monitoring to build up in ways unforeseen by its designers. It appears that a chance to know every move that somebody makes is simply too much to face up to for many people. Partners and stalkers as well as other people with a little understanding of technology can install GPS monitoring hardware in your phone and know precisely where you stand, or where your phone is anyway.
If the thought of getting someone knowing every single movement isn’t unsettling enough, it’s also wise to understand that unlike monitoring spyware that might be placed on a cell phone, GPS monitoring hardware works whether the telephone is switched on or off. The advantage of GPS hardware is it is hardware, and therefore, it’s visible. If you feel there might be a GPS track on you, look at your phone carefully, particularly underneath the battery. If you don’t find anything, speak to your cell phone company and ask if your phone is unlocked for GPS use. If that’s the case, someone with access has unlocked your phone. If you fail to find GPS hardware in your phone, which is not unlocked (this really is outside of being unlocked for 911 services), you’re most likely resistant to GPS monitoring. To keep current about the latest GPS monitoring news, take a look at http://privacyalerts.org/phone-monitoring.html.
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