Nearly all cell phone end users have a cell phone feature that they did not even realize they possessed. Not everyone recognizes that their phone is outfitted with a GPS tracking device. All the same, the question that comes up is that does that sound chilling or pretty neat? To the majority of individuals, it feels paradoxically both good and bad. Although more individuals are frightened that a GPS function on cell phones pulls us one step nearer to a ‘Big Brother’ kind of society, however many other people are enthusiastic for the abilities it provides users.
Nevertheless, where the line gets blurred is when safety is overshadowed by the potential for invasion of your privacy when the ability to track daily movements of an individual sets in. This gives rise to concerns of who has the ability to access such private information.
However, E911 has a relevant law that is fairly explicit in its orders. It gives the ability to carriers to give tracking location information to third parties for E911 emergency calls only, however this data cannot be furnished under any circumstance at all without the prior consent of the cell phone owner.
Their features that help consumers, such as maps, directions and restaurant and Movie Theater finding abilities, the GPS equipped cell phone supplies emergency call centers with data critical to preserving lives. Regrettably, it’s rather frequently that a person dial 911 to report an accident, fire or other emergency, and whenever requested where they are, they can merely state the name of the city they are close to, or the interstate highway on which they are traveling on. In such cases, the location information is inadequate. This is why cell phones are nowadays GPS enabled; call centers can detect your position through GPS in the same manner they have been able to trace calls from land-lines for so numerous years.
What’s In It for Consumers?
Although the above-mentioned safety option is meant to be used for emergency uses, cell phone companies have brought the GPS cell phone far beyond this rudimentary 911-enhanced phone. In order to make GPS attractive to customers, cell phone suppliers have produced numerous methods that cell phone end users can utilize the GPS feature on cell phones for themselves, irrespective of whether or not the 911-enhancement is ever used.
The majority of cell phone service providers have made directions and maps ready to be used as part of the GPS feature of their phones. Before you become too charged up in regards to this, you have to recognize that this service is not a free additional bonus on your present service; employing your cell phone for maps and directions calls for an added service plan that amounts to about $10 per month. If you are averse to still added monthly subscription to be paid-up, there are software programs that, for a one-time-only-fee of purchasing the software, can add similar features to your GPS cell phone.
As technology move ahead, several of these GPS cell phones can still be used as handheld GPS devices merely to be utilized during walking or biking. The prior and less costly variations need an antenna on your car in addition to a console in your car, only the wave of the future is upon us, if users are ready to pay the price for it. It appears that even now numerous consumers are buying into the navigation generation of cell phones.
By: Korbin Newlyn
Posts Tagged ‘Big Brother’
GPS Cell Phone – Life Saver or Big Brother In Your Pocket?
February 1st, 2010GPS Auto Tracker Technology Saves A Life
October 18th, 2009
The use of GPS auto tracker technology by business fleet managers and private citizens is growing daily. The savings in terms of maintenance, labor, insurance and fuel cost are enormous when applied correctly. Real time GPS more than pays for itself the first day it is employed. Some companies have even been able to reduce the size of their fleets to increased efficiency. Everyone knows that increased efficiency means a better bottom line. However there are additional benefits to using a real time GPS system.
Recently a large electrical contractor that operates more than 40 trucks over a 1000 square mile area contracted and installed a real time GPS auto tracker system in all of its vehicles. Most employees are allowed to take their work vehicles home after work. This saves the company both fuel and labor cost each day. Many of the employees felt that the company was playing big brother and invading their privacy. Some even suggested that they would leave once the system was installed.
Once the tracking system was activated and the fleet management staff trained in its use the company began to find ways to cut costs. Employees found that the system was not as intrusive as they had envisioned. The application of personnel and resources quickly began to make the company more efficient and contracts were being completed in less time. As a result the company was able to bid on additional work.
This past November found another benefit to using the GPS auto tracker technology that no one at the company expected. After a normal day of work one of the employees did not arrive home for dinner at the normal time. His wife at first passed this off as an extended work related delay. After a couple of hours she tried calling him on his cell phone but was told that the phone was not in service. Later being worried she called her husband’s supervisor to ask if he knew where her husband was and of course he did not stating that no one was working late.
Shortly after receiving the call the supervisor went on line and downloaded the location map provided by the GPS tracking Service Company. He quickly found the missing vehicle located along the Interstate highway. After calling the missing employees cell phone several times without an answer he went to investigate.
Using his laptop and GPS he drove to the exact location that the tracking system had indicated. However arriving on the scene no company truck was located. The supervisor checked the tracking information and even contacted the service company for assistance. It was suggested that the tracking device had become dislodged and fallen from the vehicle at that location. Where upon the supervisor took a flashlight and went to look for it. Instead of finding the device his flashlight reflected off the back of the company vehicle lying upside down in the roadside ditch. The missing man was trap inside and was still alive.
Emergency response personal arrived shortly thereafter extricating the injured man taking him to the hospital in serious condition. The employee survived the accident and is recovering at home. He hopes to return to work in the near future. According to law enforcement and emergency services personnel the employee probably would not have survived if he had not been found at the time he was discovered.
GPS auto tracker technology is designed to help businesses and private citizens in managing their vehicle resources. However as was discovered here there are additional benefits that this emerging technology provides. It can even save lives.
By: Jim Kesel
