RE: Requirements Document

Sorry folks, the first email got away from me before completion.
This more complete and better formatted message contains a bit
about wireless, US law and location privacy.

-----Original Message-----
>From: John W Noerenberg II [mailto:jwn2@qualcomm.com]
>
[deletions]
>
>Randy Bush wrote:
>>
=>>> - In PSTN emergency call services, callers know (or should know) that
=>>> dialing 911 or 112 or whatever means that they agree and consent to
=>>> have their calling number and possibly their location revealed to the
=>>> public safety answering point (or the equivalent in other countries).

>Hmmmm. I *didn't* know this. Presumably this is some document that
>I received at the time I got my cell phone service, or it appears on
>the back of every bill. I wonder if the public in general is aware
>of this. "Caveat emptor," but I find this worrisome.

The ability of a landline call to be traced to a location is inherent in the
landline net work (each phone number is mapped to an address). For mobile
network's the ability to locate a phone is also inherent, but on a much
coarser level. Yes, every phone is located periodically and always has been.
Wireless carriers do not dispense this information since for the same
reasons
they do not give out mobile phone numbers, subscriber identities or home
addresses.

As of right now, millions of rough locations are being generated internal to
the wireless carrier.

Every wireless phone must be located in a "paging area" or else calls cannot
be completed to that phone. This is true of all wireless telephony systems
(AMPS, TDMA, GSM, CDMA, iDEN, etc). No set size for this "paging area"
exists,
but it can be as small as a single cell site and sector or as large as an
entire
country.

The use of an emergency services number (9-1-1 in the US) results in a
public
record. The entire message is public domain, including the location (which
for
wired networks is the postal address of the incident). In 1999, the 9-1-1
service
was extended by law to cover wireless networks.

The `Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999'contains this
text:

         `(f) AUTHORITY TO USE WIRELESS LOCATION INFORMATION- For purposes of
                subsection (c)(1), without the express prior authorization
                of the customer, a customer shall not be considered to have
                approved the use or disclosure of or access to--

                `(1) call location information concerning the user of a
                  commercial mobile service (as such term is defined in
section
                  332(d)), other than in accordance with subsection (d)(4);
or

                `(2) automatic crash notification information to any person
                  other than for use in the operation of an automatic crash
                  notification system.

So for US, laws already exist covering location dissemination for mobiles.
With the advent of caller ID on landline phones, a rough geographic match
can also be made by examination of the area code and office code, which
match
geographical regions.

For precise location (100 meters or better), The US law is pretty clear that
a subscription or authorization to a location service must be performed
before
a location can be delivered.

Assumption of a server with a subscription list or a message to the end user
is
valid for this group. The comparison of location to caller ID is again
valid.
A subscriber can permanently block caller ID or turn it on or off by the use
of
keypad number strings. Since the caller's phone number maps to a
geographical area,
it is the same.

-------------------------------------
Matthew Ward
Manager of Strategic Product Planning
TruePosition Inc.
Received on Fri Aug 17 15:13:41 2001