The rapid growth in the number of public hotspots offering wireless connectivity enables tracking the location of a mobile subscriber at a much finer level compared to other widely deployed technologies. While businesses may seek to convert fine-grain location information into valuable services, subscribers may not want their location revealed. We propose a practical location privacy solution, which can be readily understood by a non-technical subscriber. We also believe that our solution is attractive enough to be offered by service providers keen on using privacy as a competitive advantage. Our solution is based on decoupling user identity from device identity by relying on real-world mechanisms that provide anonymity. We believe this is a simple and practical step along the path to realizing Mark Weiser’s vision of ubiquitous computing.
By: M. T. Raghunath, Chandrasekhar Narayanaswami
Published in: RC22781 in 2003
LIMITED DISTRIBUTION NOTICE:
This Research Report is available. This report has been submitted for publication outside of IBM and will probably be copyrighted if accepted for publication. It has been issued as a Research Report for early dissemination of its contents. In view of the transfer of copyright to the outside publisher, its distribution outside of IBM prior to publication should be limited to peer communications and specific requests. After outside publication, requests should be filled only by reprints or legally obtained copies of the article (e.g., payment of royalties). I have read and understand this notice and am a member of the scientific community outside or inside of IBM seeking a single copy only.
Questions about this service can be mailed to reports@us.ibm.com .